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THE LIFE 



OF 



GEJ\ T . FRANK. PIERCE, 



OF XEW-HAMPSHIRE, 



THE DEMOCRATIC CANDIDAT 



FOR 



PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. 



i 



BY D. W. BARTLETT. 



AUBURN: 

DERBY &, MILLER. 

BUFFALO: GEO. H. DERBY & 00. 

GTEftr&VA: 0EKDT, OfRTOST & <#. 

1852. 



Entered according to Act of Congress, lu the year 1852, by 

DERBY AND MILLER, 
In the Clerk's Office for the Northern District of New- York. 



U^MV^M 



TO THE 

DEMOCRACY 

OF THE 

UIITED STATES 

®I)t0 l)olttnu 

IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED. 



PREFACE. 



The nomination of General Franklin" Pierce to 
the Presidency by the Xational Democratic Con- 
vention at Baltimore — sudden and unexpected to a 
large portion of the people of the Union — has 
created a strong and natural desire to obtain a re- 
liable record of his life. This volume has been pre- 
pared to meet that desire. Friends in whose judg- 
ment we have been accustomed to confide, advised 
to the undertaking; and we have endeavored to 
throw aside all personal or political preferences, and 
prepare a candid and impartial life of General 
Pierce. The fact that no complete life of the can- 
didate of the Democracy had been published, was 
in itself, a strong argument in favor of the project. 
General Pierce has ever been a retiring man, never 
courting popularity and fame, and, therefore, he is 
less known to the people at large than other person- 
ages whom we might mention, yet who are far infe- 



YI PREFACE. 

rior to him in intellect, statesmanship, and all the 
attributes which are to be found in the character of 
a perfect man. We have written the book for the 
million, who desire to know all that can be known 
of "the coming man" — the man whose destiny it 
is to occupy the Presidential Chair. 

The candid reader will discover General Pierce, 
as a man and private citizen, to be generous, gen- 
tlemanly, and exceedingly attractive in all his qual- 
ities of mind and manner. As a soldier, he will 
appear able, courageous and sagacious. 

Of all the base inventions of political party presses, 
the charge of cowardice on the part of General 
Pierce, while in Mexico, as preferred by certain 
Whig journals, is the basest. The most respectable 
journals of that party, however, have refused to 
propagate so infamous a libel upon the character of 
one of our bravest generals. 

As a statesman, General Pierce will be found 
able, intelligent and honest. His course and views 
upon the subject of Slavery, we present without any 
remark either of approval or dissent, for the public 
wishes not our opinions, but the facts of General 



PREFACE. YII 

Pierce's private, professional and political career. 
These we have endeavored faithfully to present. 
We feel confident that all our statements may be 
implicitly relied upon, yet we wish to say here, dis- 
tinctly, that General Pierce is not responsible for 
a line in this volume. Certain leading facts we ob- 
tained from him or distinguished Democrats in New- 
Hampshire, and we have received valuable advice 
from prominent Democrats in other parts of the 
Union; but for this volume, we stand alone respon- 
sible. 

It is but just to remark that circumstances have 
compelled us to prepare the volume with great haste, 
so that the reader who is expecting a volume of el- 
egant writing, stands in a fair way to be disappoint- 
ed ; but he who desires a candid, unpretending, yet 
reliable record of the public career of Franexin" 
Pierce, may — we trust we may say it without ego- 
tism — consult our pages with safety. r>. w. b. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

PAGE. 

Benjamin Pierce, Father of Gen. Pierce— His Early History- 
Anecdote of hiia — His Family — Political Career — Personal 
Appearance — His Generosity — Anecdote, - - . . 13 

CHAPTER II. 

Birth of Franklin Pierce— Preparation for College— Anecdote 
— His religious friend, Zenas Caldwell — Solving a Problem- 
Military and Civil Law in conflict— Takes his Degree — Studies 
Law — Elected to Huuse of Representatives — Ma;le Speaker,.. 22 

CHAPTER III. 

Elected to Congress— Character as an Orator — Speech on Rev- 
olutionary Claims, — . 3- 

CHAPTER IV. 

Speech on the Deposit Question — Speech on the West Point 
Academy, -- — - 50 

CHAPTER V. 

Election to the U. S. Senate — Correspondence — Speech on the 
Defences of the Country— Speech on the Armed Occupation of 
Florida — Speech on Removals from Office, 81 

CHAPTER VI. 

His Congressional Career — Subject of Slavery— Resigns his Seat- 
Again appointed to the Senate, but will not accept — Correspond- 
ence — Offered a seat in the Cabinet of Mr. Polk, 121 



X CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER VII. 

PAGE. 

Mr. Tierce as a Soldier and General — The Breaking out of the 
Mexican War — Mr. Pierce Enlists as a Private — Appointed 
Brigadier-General — Sails for Vera Cruz— Attacked at National 
Bridge — Joins Gen. Scott at Puebla — His Course through the 
War — His Return — Reception at Concord — His Speech, 135 

CHAPTER VIII. 

General Pierce on the Religious Test Question— His Speech — 
Letter to the Stark Monument Committee, 191 

CHAPTER IX. 

Gen/Pierce as an Orator — His success in Examining Witnesses — 
His power as a Pleader — His Plea in the Wentworth Case, 210 

CHAPTER X. 

General Pierce at Home — His Family — His Popularity — Anecdote 
— His Generosity — Personal Appearance — The Compromise 
Question — Nominated to the Presidency by the N. H. Democr 
racy — Declines — Letter to Colonel Lally, 238 

CHAPTER XL 

The National Convention— Letter of the Committee — Gen. Pierce's 
Reply — Remarks, 243 

CHAPTER XII. 

Reception of the News of the Nomination of General Pierce in 
New-Hampshire — Meeting of the State Legislature — Mr. 
Sargent's' Speech — Mr. Wells' Speech — Mass Meeting of 
the People at Concord — Meeting at Boston, at Washington, 
at New-York, Hartford, etc. etc. — Letters of Mr. Buchanan, 
Ex-President VanBuren, Messrs. Cass, Houston, Douglass, 
etc etc. — Concluding Remarks 263 



LIFE OF FRANK. PIERCE. 



FATHER OF FRANKLIN" PIERCE. 13 



CHAPTER L 

Benjamin Pierce, Father of Gen. Pierce — His Early History — Anec- 
dote of him — His Family — Political Career — Personal Appear- 
ance — His Generosity — Anecdote. 

Franklin Pierce is the fourth -son of the late 
Gov. Benjamin Pierce, of Hillsborough, New- 
Hampshire. His ancestors were all plain, honest 
and intelligent Democrats, fond of serving their 
country in time of war on the field of battle — in 
time of peace as loyal citizens. Benjamin Pierce, 
the father of the subject of this volume, was a very 
extraordinary man. He was a native of Chelms- 
ford, Massachusetts. He never received a liberal 
education ; in fact, he was almost entirely a self- 
educated man, gaining his knowledge more from 
men than books. At the early age of seventeen he 
bade farewell to his plough, and enlisted as a 
common soldier in the great war of the American 
Be Volution. On the 19th of April, 1775, the revo- 
lutionary committee sent couriers out in every 
direction ; one of them drove up before the farm- 
house of the father of Benjamin Pierce, and told 
his brief tale of the news of the battle of Lexington. 
The simple account of the courier was all that was 
needed to fire the brave heart of the young farmer, 
and he shouldered his musket, and with the bless- 
2 



14 LIFE OF FRANKLIN PIERCE. 

ings of his parents, started on foot for the seat of 
war. He soon arrived in Boston, where he enlisted 
as a private in the regiment commanded by Colonel 
Brooks. He was in the great battle of Bunker Hill, 
the 17th of June following, and there distinguished 
himself by his bravery. In one of the many im- 
portant actions in which he was subsequently 
engaged, during the hottest of the battle, when the 
leaden rain was fiercest, young Pierce saw the flag of 
his regiment wave to and fro, and as if the bearer 
were unable longer to uphold it. Although the act 
was accompanied with the greatest danger, he rushed 
forward, and grasping it, held it proudly in its proper 
place, while the old bearer dropped dead at his feet. 
And until the action was finished and the victory 
complete, he continued to uphold it. The brave ac- 
tion was noticed, and the next morning the young 
farmer was rewarded with an ensigncy. His supe- 
rior bravery, and his military talents, attracted 
attention, and when the Revolutionary War was 
brought to a termination, he quitted the army with 
the rank of captain. Such was the wretched pecu- 
niary condition of the treasury, that the soldiers 
were paid off for their services in a depreciated 
currency, and Benjamin Pierce found that he pos- 
sessed only about two hundred dollars. 

He was necessitated, therefore, to retire to the 
wilderness, where lands were cheap, and purchase 
him a farm. Wandering one day in the region of 
what is now the town of Hillsborough, N. H.> he 



FATHER OF FRANKLIN PIERCE. 15 

stopped by a pleasant stream, which contained a 
plenty of the finest trout. This was an excellent 
recommendation of the spot in the eyes of the cap- 
tain, and spying a log-hut in the distance, he sought 
its proprietor, and put to him the question : 

"Will you sell your farm?" The reply was 
" Yes." 

"How large is it?" asked the captain. "One 
hundred and fifty acres, with a half-dozen of it 
cultivated." 

"I will give you just one hundred and fifty 
dollars for it," said Captain Pierce, " and that is all 
the money I have to spare." After a little thought, 
the man accepted the offer, and Captain Pierce 
settled down in the wilderness as a farmer. 

In the fall of the year 1786, General Sullivan, 
who was then a resident of New-Hampshire, deter- 
mined upon forming the militia of Hillsborough 
county into a brigade, and appointed Benjamin 
Pierce a brigade-major. His services were of great 
value to the militia of New-Hampshire, and he 
finally rose to be brigadier-general. 

The first wife of Benjamin Pierce, Elizabeth 
Andrews, of Hillsborough, died at the early age of 
twenty-one, leaving a daughter, who is now the 
widow of the late distinguished General John 
McNeil. He again married Anna Kendrick, of 
Amherst, IS". H., by whom he had three daughters 
and five sons. She was a woman of excellent char- 
acter, and died just two months before her husband 



16 LIFE OF FE ALEXIN" PIERCE. 

One of the daughters died before attaining the age 
of womanhood, and the remaining two became ac- 
complished women. The eldest married General 
Solomon McNeil, of New-Hampshire ; the youngest 
became the wife of Hugh Lawrence, Esq., of Bos- 
ton. They both died in the year 1837, leaving 
behind them families to mourn their loss. The only 
sister, therefore, living, of Gen. Frank Pierce, is the 
widow of Gen. John McNeil, and the daughter of 
Gov. Benjamin Pierce by Elizabeth Andrews, his 
first wife. Mrs. McNeil is a very accomplished, 
affable, witty woman, and is loved and admired by 
a large circle of friends. 

The sons of Benjamin Pierce were, in the order of 
their ages, Benjamin U., J. Sullivan, Charles S., 
Franklin, and Henry D. Sullivan and Charles died 
young ; the eldest, Benjamin IT., entered Dartmouth 
College, and commenced reading law, but when the 
war of 1812 opened, his enthusiasm was so great 
that he forsook his situation for the army, where he 
soon rose to the rank of brevet-colonel. He was a 
brave and accomplished officer and gentleman. He 
was married three times, and left three daughters 
at his death in 1850, to mourn his loss. He gained 
considerable renown in the Florida War, and was 
in many respects like his brother, Franklin Pierce. 
He was exceedingly amiable and kind, was graceful 
in his manners, and everywhere he was known was 
loved. 

The youngest son of Governor Benjamin Pierce, 



FATHER OF FRANKLIN FIERCE. IT 

Col. Henry D. Pierce, is now scarcely forty years of 
age, and is a drover and farmer. He is wealthy, 
intelligent, and has been elected to the Legislature 
of his native State for several terms. 

But to return to the sketch of old Governor 
Pierce's life : In 1789, he was elected from Hills- 
borough to sit in the House of Representatives at 
Concord, and continued to represent that town in 
the House for twelve consecutive years. In 1803, 
he was elected a member of the Governor's Council, 
in which office he continued until 1809, when he 
was appointed Sheriff of Hillsborough county. This 
office he occupied for four years. For many years 
following he was either Sheriff of the county which 
was his residence, or he was a member of the Gov- 
ernor's Council. 

In 1827, Benjamin Pierce was elected Governor 
of the State of New-Hampshire ; in 1828, in times 
of great political agitation, he was for once defeated 
in his election, but he was triumphantly re-elected 
again in 1829. After this he lived in retirement to 
a good old age. He died April 1st, 1839, at the 
age of eighty-one years, and his remains were de- 
posited in the town burying ground. 

Benjamin Pierce, as we have before remarked, 
was an extraordinary man, and from him the pres- 
ent distinguished Franklin Pierce has derived many 
of his best qualities. Without the advantages of 
early education — without opulent and powerful 
friends, Benjamin Pierce grew to be the most influ- 



18 LITE OF FRANKLIN PIERCE. 

ential man in New-Hampshire. His influence in 
the county ef Hillsborough was overwhelming, and 
indeed, throughout the State. He was, in fact, a 
man of great native talent. Shrewd, good-natured, 
and possessed of common-sense, he soon took his 
position as a leader of men. In personal appear- 
ance he was striking. He was rather short, and 
think-set, had a rigid, honest-looking face, resem- 
bling, to a degree, the best portraits of Gen. Jackson. 
His eyes were bright and merry, his nose was prom- 
inent, his lips expressive of firmness, while his hair, 
during the latter portion of his life, was as white as 
snow. He had always a full flow of animal spirits, 
and was lively in temperament. He was a uni- 
versal favorite — fearless, frank-hearted — entirely 
devoid of all aristocratical j)ride — he was well calcu- 
lated to please the great body of the people. He 
was exceedingly fond of hunting and fishing, and as 
soon as he had brought his farm in Hillsborough 
under cultivation, he constructed a pond, in the cen- 
tre of the lawn in front of his house, which he at all 
times kept well stocked with trout. He was a man 
of the most humane disposition. He was constantly 
engaged in some kind and generous work, and he 
gave to the poor and deserving a portion of his 
wealth. In 1818, there was considerable excite- 
ment in reference to the oppressive laws which ob- 
tained in reference to debtors. Under the laws then 
in force in the State of ]STew-Hampshire, (and 
indeed the majority of all the States of the Union) 



FATHER OF FRANKLIN PIERCE. 19 

an unfortunate, though strictly honest man, was 
liable to be thrown into the most foul of all dun- 
geons, where he must remain till death should come 
to release him. There were cases of the imprison- 
ment of the noblest of men — -of men who had fought 
and bled in the wars of their country — and who, for 
misfortune alone, were doomed to rot their lives out 
in the confined dungeons of a prison. 

In the jail at Amherst, New-Hampshire, there 
were, in 1818, three aged prisoners ; one of them had 
remained there for four years, in the closest confine- 
ment. "When Benjamin Pierce was elected Sheriff 
of the county, one of his first acts was to appoint a 
day for the releasement of these prisoners. The 
people thought the occasion worthy of a public 
meeting, and when the day arrived, the 20th of No- 
vember, 1818, they all assembled in front of the 
prison, when Sheriff Pierce, after having opened the 
door of the prison, addressed them as follows : 

"Moses Brewer, Isaac Lawrence, and George 
Lancy — By the return made me by Israel AY. Kelly, 
Esq., my predecessor in the office of sheriff for the 
county of Hillsborough, it appears that you, Moses 
Brewer, was committed, December 13, 1814 ; and 
you, Isaac Lawrence, was committed December 27, 
1815 ; and you, George Lancy, July 2, 1817 : 

" My unfortunate Fellow-Citizens : The feel- 
ings excited by a view of your situation are inex- 
pressible. That those heads, silvered by age and 



20 LIFE OF FRANKLIN PIERCE. 

hardship, and those hearts, throbbing with kindly 
emotions, should be held for this long period of time 
by their fellow-citizens, withont the imputation of a 
crime, in a captivity unparalleled even in the an- 
nals of the French Bastile, or Algerine slavery, 
always viewed by us with sentiments of inexpressi- 
ble horror, is more than my nature is able to endure. 
To be immured in a dungeon, standing on the very 
soil of liberty, and in the midst of men boasting its 
high privileges, is, in my mind, with which the 
ideas and the value of freedom are closely interwo- 
ven, infinitely worse than to be enslaved in a foreign 
land, by enemies and barbarians, from whom nothing 
better could be expected. But as an officer of the 
county, I have a duty to perform. I must either be 
governed by the law, and suffer you still to remain, 
the devoted victims of unavoidable misfortune and 
honest poverty, shut out from the genial light of 
heaven and the vital air, God's equal gift to all ; to 
endure, perhaps perish under the privations inci- 
dent to our situation, and the stern ravages of ap- 
proaching winter; forlorn and destitute, with no 
friend to comfort, no society to cheer, no companion 
to console you— or, I must be directed by the pow- 
erful impulse of humanity, pay the debt myself, and 
bid you leave this dreary and gloomy abode. 

"My unfortunate fellow-citizens: My duty to 
myself will not suffer longer to remain here an old 
companion in arms, who fought for the liberty of 
which he is deprived, for no crime but that of being 



FATHER OF FRAXEXES PIERCE. 21 

poor. My duty to my country, whose honor is 
deeply implicated by your sufferings — and it is one 
of my first wishes that it should be untarnished — 
and my duty to my God, who has put into my 
power to relieve, irresistibly urge me to the latter 
course. This, I am sensible, takes from me a large 
sum of money ; however the liberal and generous 
people, among whom it is my happy lot to reside, 
may participate ; if not, none but my children will 
have any right to reproach me ; and I am confident 
they will do no more than say their father was gen- 
erous to a fault. In this view, go ; receive the un- 
contaminated air which is diffused abroad for the 
comfort of man ; go to your families and friends, if 
you have any. Be correct in your habits. Be in- 
dustrious — and if your tottering and emaciated 
frames are so far exhausted as to prevent your get- 
ting a comfortable support, apply to the good people 
for relief — and may the best of heaven's blessings 
accompany you the remainder of your days." 

This act was one of the noblest ever performed in 
this selfish world of ours, and we venture to say has 
scarcely ever had its equal among the acts of the 
public men of the country. 

In almost every town in New-Hampshire, there 
are persons who well remember old Governor Pierce, 
and remember him with the liveliest affection too. 
His grave is in a pleasant spot, and is surmounted 
by a plain monument, which is in good taste, for 
Gov. Pierce was of all men plain and unaffected, 
2* 



22 LIFE OF FRANKLLN PIERCE. 



CHAPTER II. 

Birth of Franklin Pierce — Preparation for College— Anecdote— His 
religious friend, Zenas Caldwell — Solving- a Problem — Military and 
Civil Law in conflict— Takes his Degree— Studies Law— Elected 
to House of Representatives — Made Speaker. 

We now come, after a very hasty and brief sketch 
of his father's family, to the present General Frank- 
lin Pierce. He was born at Hillsborough, the 23d 
day of November, 1804. Being a child of strong 
promise, at an early age Gov. Pierce sent him out 
of town to obtain his education. An elder brother, 
then in the army, had the sagacity to perceive the 
powers of his mind, and was exceedingly anxious 
that he should receive a thorough education. For 
several years he attended school in the neighboring 
towns of Hancock and Francestown. While a resi- 
dent of the latter town, he lived with the mother of 
the late lamented Judge Woodbury, who was a lady 
of superior mind and attractions. Over Frank she 
had a most beneficial influence, as he very often 
acknowledged. He left Francestown for Exeter 
Academy where he completed his preparatory stud- 
ies, and entered Bowdoin College at the precocious 
age of sixteen, in the year 1820. During his first 
two years in college, Frank Pierce was not distin- 
guished for his devotion to his studies. He was not 



# HIS EDUCATION. 23 

dissipated, but having naturally a full flow of spir- 
its, he was a little wiJd. But among all his class- 
mates he was extremely popular. Possessing frank 
manners and a generous disposition, it could not 
well be otherwise. Some of the members of his 
class have since become highly distinguished. A 
few of the names we will mention ; Calvin E. Stowe 
(since Rev. Dr. Stowe,) was its brightest scholar. 
Among his intimate collegiate friends, were the 
Hon. James Bell, John P. Hale, the Free Soil Sen- 
ator, and who, up to 1845, was one of his warmest 
friends, Jonathan Cilley, and that most beautiful of 
all American prose writers, Xathaniel Hawthorne. 
We have said that Frank Pierce was not, during his 
first two years, a brilliant scholar, owing to his fond- 
ness for society and his high spirits. While pursu- 
ing the study of Algebra, he one morning, in hastily 
running over his lesson for the day, came to an ab- 
struse problem, which could not be solved without 
time and patience. Unfortunately he wixs not just 
then in possession of those valuable articles, and be- 
ing in the room of his classmate, Stowe, and casting 
a glance at his slate, he saw the problem worked 
out most charmingly ! It was the work only of a 
few minutes, and tlie copy on his own slate was 
complete. It was barely completed before the hour 
of recitation arrived. The tutor commenced with 
Pierce, half expecting that he would have failed in 
solving the problem, when, to his surprise, he saw 
the proper result upon the slate of the young colle- 



24 LIFE OF FKANKLIN PIEECE. 

gian. He took the slate, looked at it, and said in 
his wonderment : 

" Well, Pierce ! where did yon get this ?" 

"Now Frank Pierce could no more tell a lie than 
he could be guilty of any other wicked and mean 
action, and supposing that the tutor was soberly 
asking him a question he wished answered, he re- 
plied : 

" Where did I get it 1 Why, from Stowe's slate, 
to he sure /" The reply came with such a perfect 
sang froid, that the class burst into merry laughter, 
while the tutor, if he was displeased with Pierce's 
want of study, became thoroughly convinced of his 
honesty of character. And this has ever been one 
of the finest traits in his character. He has never 
so much as tergiversated. He can never lie — is 
never inconsistent. 

He soon became acquainted in college with his 
class-mate, Zenas Caldwell, of Maine, brother of the 
late Prof. Mcritt Caldwell, of Dickinson College. 
Zenas Caldwell died the year after leaving college, 
and was a most devoted Christian of the Methodist 
persuasion. He soon conceived a strong affection 
for Frank Pierce, notwithstanding his levity and 
youthfulness. It seems as though he must have had 
a presentiment that Pierce was destined to a life of 
extended influence and power, for he was exceed- 
ingly anxious to win him over to the paths of piety. 
It was in vain that Pierce tried to shake him off ; 
he clung to him as a brother, not boldly and offen- 



HIS FRIEND, ZEXAS CALDWELL. 25 

sively, but in a mild, affectionate, yet determined 
manner. The result was most happy indeed : Pierce 
gave up his levity, his carelessness, became devoted 
to his books, got up early and sat up late, became 
truly an excellent scholar, and, what was more 
pleasing to Zenas Caldwell than all the rest, became 
deeply impressed with the truths of religion, and 
to this day, his sympathies are with the Methodists. 
Long since the devoted young Christian gave up 
his spirit to his Maker, but his gentle, winning, re- 
ligious conduct in college, still has its powerful in- 
fluence over one of the brightest minds in America. 
It is not speaking beyond the truth to say that it 
has added a steadiness and sobriety to the life of 
Franklin Pierce to this day, and will to the day of his 
death. In a recent conversation with General 
Pierce, he alluded to his old class-mate in the most 
feeling manner. When his collegiate course was 
about half finished, young Caldwell persuaded him 
to accompany him home, to Hebron, in Maine. It 
was in the winter, and the common district school 
in Hebron was without a teacher, and the brothers 
Caldwell influenced him to assume the dignities of 
a teacher's life. He was paid fourteen dollars per 
month for his services, at that time and place reck- 
oned very high wages. Look at the future Presi- 
dent of the United States the teacher of a district 
school ! And in our humble opinion, the one office 
is as noble a one to fill as the other. 

Entering the school-house, he found nine different 



26 LIFE OF FRANKLIN PIERCE. 

kinds of arithmetic in use ! His first act was to 
send down to Portland for a copy of each. At last, 
in the course of the winter, he came upon a very 
blind problem, which, amid all the cares which 
pressed upon him, he could not solve. He took the 
book containing the problem home to his boarding- 
house, and walked the floor incessantly. It was in 
vain that he thought. He went back to his school- 
room the next morning, dejected, and delivered a 
long lecture to his scholars upon the propriety of 
their solving their own problems, as it would do 
them but little good were he to show them the pro- 
cess. The same night in his room, he again work- 
ed painfully at the incorrigible problem ; and when 
about to give up in despair, while walking the room, 
he chanced to cast his eye upon a little recess in the 
chimney. Turning a button and opening the door, 
without any particular object in view, he saw a 
sheet of paper covered with figures, and looking 
carefully upon it, what was his astonishment to dis- 
cover the very problem over which he had so long 
puzzled his brains, wrought out carefully to a cor- 
rect result. In a moment he saw the principle 
which he had overlooked, and Which was a key to 
the answer sought. 

After three months within the walls of a country 
school-house, Frank Pierce bade them farewell 
without much sorrow, that he might again pursue 
his collegiate course. 

While in college, his young friends formed a mil- 



MILITARY AXD CIVIL LAW IN COZSFLICT. 27 

itary company and elected him its captain. In 
marching to and fro between two given points, he 
found it very convenient to march across a portion 
of the green near the mansion of the President of 
the college. After doing so once or twice, the Pres- 
ident gave out his orders to Captain Pierce, that in 
future he must desist from marching so near his 
house. When the next parade-clay came on, the 
young captain, as before, marched his company 
across the aforesaid green, whereupon the President, 
who was a small and thick-set man, came out, and 
in a furious manner, thus accosted young Pierce : 

" Did you not hear, sir, the orders which I gave 
you recently in reference to crossing this green ?" 

u I did sir," he replied calmly. 

"And why did you not obey them?" asked the 
President, still angrier than before. 

" Because it was an unjust order. It puts us to 
great inconvenience to obey you, while it certainly 
does yon no harm for us to go past your house." 

" I will have you to know," said the President 
" that here civil law is superior to military !" And 
he retired to his house. He made a violent attempt 
to expel Pierce from college, but through the inter- 
ference of friends, desisted from further action upon 
the matter. 

Mr. Pierce took his degree in the year 1824, with 
high honors, and left Bowdoin College and his nu- 
merous circle of friends there with regret, for among 
them he had spent some of the happiest portions of 



28 LIFE OF FE ANKLE* PEEECE. 

his life. Here lie bade farewell to his devoted 
friend, Zenas Caldwell, who had taken such a deep 
interest in his welfare, who died two years later, at 
the age of twenty-six. 

The three following years were spent successively 
in the office of Hon. Edmund Parker, at Amherst, 
N. H., Hon. Levi Woodbury, at Portsmouth, and in 
the law school of Judge Howe at Northampton, 
Massachusetts. 

In 1827 Mr. Pierce was admitted to the bar, and 
opened an office opposite to his father's mansion in 
Hillsborough. At this time Gov. Benjamin Pierce 
enjoyed a commanding influence in New Hamp- 
shire. His popularity was such as is not often wit- 
nessed in the world of politics. As a matter of 
course, the success of Franklin Pierce was almost 
instantaneous. Under common circumstances a 
young lawyer is obliged to make his abilities known 
to the world before he can hope for success. But 
in this case the high position and popularity of Gov. 
Pierce gained for his son immediate practice. But 
had he lacked eminent abilities, it would soon have 
been discovered, and he would have lost that pat- 
ronage which he secured from the reputation of his 
father. He needed not only great abilities but se- 
vere and constant labor, to maintain the position 
which it was on all heads conceded he must take. 
We need not say that he not only met the highest 
expectation of his friends, but far exceeded them. 
He rose daily in their esteem and admiration. 



ELECTED TO THE LEGISLATURE. 29 

Mr. Pierce at once espoused the cause of Democra- 
cy with unbounded zeal, and such was the confidence 
reposed in him by his fellow-townsmen that in the sec- 
ond year of his practice, at the age of twenty-five, he 
was elected to represent the town of Hillsborough in 
the State Legislature at Concord. The three succes- 
sive years he was also elected to that body, and such 
was 'their opinion of his abilities, that in 1832 and 
1833 he was made Speaker of the House of Kep- 
resentatives. At this time there was great agitation 
throughout New-Hampshire in reference to Gener- 
al Jackson. The State, in the year 1829, came out 
boldly and grandly in favor of the hero of New-Or- 
leans. Benjamin Pierce was elected Governor by 
more than two thousand majority, and an entire 
Congressional delegation in favor of Jackson's ad- 
ministration was chosen, and a legislature returned 
strongly Democratic. The following year the agi- 
tation became greater, and the Democracy achieved 
a still more brilliant victory over their opponents, 
Their candidate for the Governorship was elected by 
four thousand majority, and Isaac Hill was elected 
to the United States Senate. Through all these ex- 
citing scenes Mr. Pierce, though a young man, took 
an important part. On the 15th of June, 1830, a 
convention of the Democratic party was convened 
at Concord. An address and resolutions were 
adopted, which at that time were of great signifi- 
cance. They clearly define the nature of the Con- 
stitution ; show how the extravagent system of ap- 



30 LIFE OF FRANKLIU" FIEECE. 

propriations by the general government lead " to 
wide-spread, general corruption, tending directly to 
consolidation or disunion of the States, the destruc- 
tion of democratic principles, and the extinction of 
liberty ; " they also endorsed the re-nomination 
of Andrew Jackson as the Democratic candidate for 
the next Presidential term. In 1831, as we have 
said, the Democrats of iSTew Hampshire elected their 
candidates forthe State, and for Congressional offices. 
The House of Representatives consisted of two hun- 
dred and twenty members . Franklin Pierce was put 
in nomination by the Democrats, and he was elected 
as follows : for Frank Pierce 155 : all other votes 58. 

The following year, 1832, he was again elect- 
ed to the Speakership. Thus in a very few years, 
Frank Pierce had raised himself to a commanding 
position in his native State. In his own party, 
among his own adherents, his position was most ami- 
able and indeed he was beloved and admired by his 
political enemies. Although young, yet he contin- 
ued to conduct himself in so modest yet able a man- 
ner as to raise the admiration of the older leaders 
among the Granite Democracy of !New Hampshire. 

A political critic, in noticing his career at this por- 
tion of his life-, remarks : 

" Thus, in five years, he attained an enviable po- 
sition among his associates; and won it, not by 
undermining rivals, or by adroitness in political 
intrigue, but by a firm adherence to political prin- 
ciple, eloquence in debate, unquestioned capacity 



LEGISLATIVE CAREER. 31 

or public business, unvarying courtesy and exhibi- 
ion of frankness and manliness of character. So 
lionorable was his ambition, that, while he was 
anting his associates, he retained their love and 
commanded their respect." 



32 LIFE OF FEANKLIN PIERCE. 



CHAPTER III. 

Elected to Congress — Character as an Orator — Speech on Revolu 
tionary Claims. 

In the summer of 1833, Mr. Pierce was elected 
from his native district to the lower House of Con- 
gress, for the term of two years, and took his seat 
in that body in December of the same year. He 
was at this ,time a graceful orator and gentleman, 
but twenty-nine years of age, popular at home 
among his constituents, and as may well be suppo- 
sed, soon became a favorite in the best circles of 
Washington society. Young, fond of society, and 
of a genial nature, it would not have been strange, 
had the temptations which were scattered thickly 
about him, seduced him, to a degree, from a rigid at- 
tention upon the transactions of the House. But 
such was not the case. At all times, he was to be 
seen in his seat. When any important vote was ta- 
ken, the name of Franklin Pierce, of [New-Hamp- 
shire, is invariably to be found on the records of 
Congress. He never interrivpted the proceedings of 
either House with what are vulgarly denominated 
" speeches made for Buncombe." We have been 
indeed surprised, in our search among the Congres- 
sional records for his speeches, to discover the prac- 



ELECTED TO CONGRESS. S3 

tical nature of every speech ever delivered by him 
in Congress, either in the House of Eepresentatives 
or the Senate. Scarcely another man is living who 
has spent as many years in Congress, without speak- 
ing, occasionally to say the least, for the sake of po- 
litical capital at home. There are several reasons 
why Mr. Pierce never pursued such a course. In 
the first place, his modesty of character, and his 
love of the practical, extinguished in his heart all 
desire for popular displays ; and in the second place, 
he has always been so popular among the people of 
New-Hampshire, that there was never at any time 
any need of his resorting to the ordinary methods 
of keeping alive a half-expiring reputation, viz : by 
franking thousands of his speeches to his constitu- 
ents — by making a violent ado about nothing, in 
Congress, for the purpose of preserving his name 
fresh in the memories of his political supporters and 
friends. The Democratic party has generally a very 
handsome majority in .New-Hampshire, and Frank 
Pierce was always sure of a heavy majority, when- 
ever nominated for any office. 

The first speech of any importance and length 
made by Mr. Pierce in the House of Eepresenta- 
tives, was delivered February 27, 1834, and was 
upon the subject of Kevolutionary Claims. We 
present it here, not because it is, in the ordinary 
acceptation of the term, a brilliant performance, but 
because it shows the excellent sense of the young 
orator, and his conscientious desire to oppose all ex- 



34 LIFE OF FRANKLIN" PIERCE. 



travagance in the public expenditures. Through 
all his speeches there runs the same vein of econo- 
my. Though personally extremely liberal — far toe 
much so for the good of his purse — he has always 
strongly opposed extravagance in the public expen- 
ditures. It is this fact, disclosed by the speeches oi 
Mr. Pierce, which constitutes him a safe statesman! I 
and an exceedingly fit man for the Presidency of 
this nation. It is not every passionate orator, it 
is not every stump-speech-maker, who can properly 
fill the august Presidential chair. But a man who 
is opposed to extravagance and to corruption, and; 
who is religiously honest and consistent in his char-' 
acter, though inferior to Daniel "Webster in his in- 
tellectual acquirements, may be a far safer Presi- 
dent than any mere orator, or intellectual personage c 
of however magnificent talents. General Pierce is i 
an honest man — a consistent man ; and the people 
never will be deceived in him or by him. But we 
will proceed w T ith his speech on a bill reported by a 
committee of the House, " To provide for the settle- 
ment of certain Revolutionary Claims :" 

SPEECH 

ON "A BILL TO PROVIDE FOR THE SETTLEMENT OF CER- 
TAIN REVOLUTIONARY CLAIMS." 

" Mr. Pierce, of New-Hampshire, thanked the 
House for having kindly deferred, on the suggestion 
of his indisposition, the consideration of the bill 
which had just been read ; and he felt under par- 



SPEECH IN CONGRESS. 35 

! ticular obligations for the generous courtesy mani- 
: fested on that occasion by the gentleman from Yir- 
: ginia, a friend of the bill, [Mr. Mason,] upon his 
; right. lie had expressed, the other day, when mo- 
. ving the postponement of the bill, his conviction 
: that it had been passed to a third reading without 
bavins; received all the consideration due to its im- 
I portance. That conviction had been strengthened 
I by further examination and subsequent reflection. 
Kothing, however, but a sense of what he conceived 
to be his duty, as an humble member of that body, 
could have induced him to arrest its progress then, 
or new to ask, for a few moments, the indulgence of 
the House. He should be brief in his remarks, hav- 
ing nothing to say for political eifect, or for home con- 
sumption ; but with the opinions he entertained of the 
bill, he should do injustice to himself did he permit 
it to pass sub silentio, feeble and unavailing as his 
voice might prove. He had hoped that its impor- 
tance, and the new order of things to be had under 
it, would have called up some gentleman whose ex- 
perience and whose reputation might have insured 
general attention. He had waited to the last mo- 
ment, and waited in vain, and now, upon its pas- 
sage, he called upon gentlemen to pause before they 
proceeded to provide, by presumption, for satisfying 
claims of any character, from any quarter. 

" Mr. P. said he was not insensible of the advan- 
tages with which the bill now under consideration 
came before the House. It came, as he understood, 



36 LIFE OF FRANKLIN PIERCE. 

with the unanimous approbation of a committee en- 
titled to the most entire respect ; and it related to 
services, the very mention of which moved our pride 
and our gratitude. They were services beyond all 
praise, and above all price. He spoke of the Rev- 
olutionary services generally. But while warm and 
glowing with the glorious recollections, which a 
recurrence to that period never fails to awa- 
ken ; while we cherish with affection and reverence 
the memory of the brave men of that day, now no 
more ; while we would grant, r most cheerfully grant, 
to their heirs all that is justly due, and which we 
do extend to those who still survive ; our grateful 
thanks, and our treasure also, he trusted we should 
not, in the full impulse of generous feeling, disre- 
gard what was due from the gentlemen composing 
this House, as the descendants of such men. What, 
then, sir, (said Mr. P.) are the objects to be answer- 
ed by the bill, and what are its provisions ? The 
general object is plainly and briefly stated in the in- 
troduction of the committee's report. They say : 

" ' Finding many petitions before them, asking 
the commutation of five years of half-pay, promised 
by the resolution of Congress of the 22d of March, 
1783, to certain officers of the Revolutionary army, 
they have been induced, by several considerations, 
to present to the same a bill, the object of which is 
to remove these and some other similar claims from 
the action of the committee, and of Congress, and 
have them settled at the Treasury Department.' 



SPEECH ON REVOLUTIONARY CLAIMS. 37 

Mr P. would not be disposed at any time, much 
less was he disposed now, when so much was said 
as to the tendency of power, and of patronage, and 
of responsibility to the Executive, to cast from us 
any duties which have been performed, or any re- 
sponsibilities which have been hitherto vested here, 
unless the reasons for such transfer shall appear 
obvious and conclusive. It was more than fifty 
years since the passage of the resolution refered to- 
by the committee as the foundation of commutation 
claims. The subject for making suitable jDrovis- 
ion for the officers of the army of the Revolution, 
was one of the deepest and intense interest, not 
only to the officers, themselves but to the country gen- 
erally, from 1778 clown to the passage of the commu- 
tation resolve of 17S3. Mr. P. apprehended that 
individuals having substantial claims against the 
government did not often remain ignorant of the 
fact, and he was curious to know how it happened 
that these claims had slumbered during the whole 
of this period. 

Considering the frequency and earnestness with 
which the subject was urged upon Congress by the 
Father of his Country, and the anxiety with which 
it was regarded by the officers themselves, it was 
not to be presumed that any were so listless as to 
remain in the dark with regard to their own rights. 
In his judgment, it was reasonable to suppose that 
the number of legal and just claims would by this 
time have been so far diminished, as to leave little 
3 



S3 LIFE OF FRANKLIN PIERCE. 

for the action of Congress, or of any other depart- 
ment. Since, however, that which might have been 
naturally expected to occur seemed but to have ob- 
tained in this particular instance, he knew not that 
he should have raised any particular objections to 
sending the claims to the Treasury Department, pro- 
viding they were to go there relying upon their own 
merits, and depending for their allowance upon evi- 
dence ordinarily required of revolutionary services, 
and not upon presumptions. If the bill did not em- 
brace the rules that are to be required as fixed 
principles, and to which he trusted he should be 
able to satify the House there were strong if not 
insurmountable objections, it would still be excep- 
tionable. He understood that it was not formerly 
the practice of Congress to allow interest upon 
these claims, even where they were brought by sat- 
isfactory evidence within the provisions of the res- 
olution of ITS 3 ; and it struck him that a different 
practice never should have obtained, except in ca- 
ses where the claimant furnished sufficient reason 
for his delay, showing that it was attributable to no 
fault or negligence on his part. If correct in this 
view, it would be clearly wrong to sanction the 
principles generally, as is provided by the third 
section of the bill. 

In speaking of what he considered to be the 
most objectionable feature of the bill, Mr. P. 
said he should confine himself chiefly to its ope- 
ration upon those who were entitled to half-pay 



SPEECH ON REVOLUTIONARY CLAES1S. 39 

for life, under the resolve of 1T80, at the sec- 
ond important change in the arrangement of the 
army after its establishment, and to some portion 
or the history of the subsequent action of Congress 
upon the subject, it might be proper for him to call 
the attention of the House. By the resolution just 
referred to, those who were reduced by the arrange- 
ment which then took place, as well as those who 
served to the close of the war, were entitled to half 
pay for life. That this provision was made under 
very peculiar circumstances, was matter of histo- 
ry ; and it was well known to all within the reach 
of his voice, that it was regarded with jealousy and 
dissatisfaction, both by the soldiers who have behaved 
with equal valor, and endured equal hardships, and 
by the citizens generally. They regarded it as anti- 
republican ; they thought it setting up, in the then 
young republic, invidious distinctions, and estab- 
lishing, for that generation at least, a privileged and 
pensioned class, inconsistent with the equal rights 
for which they had been contending, and at va- 
riance with the genius and spirit of such a govern- 
ment as they hoped to see established and main- 
tained. 

In March, 1783, a change was made and what 
was the moving cause of that charge? A me- 
morial from the officers themselves. The preamble 
of the resolution recites that, " Whereas, the officers 
of the several lines under the immediate command 
of his excellency, General Washington, did by their 



40 LIFE OF FK ALEXIN PIERCE. 

late memorial, transmitted by their committee, rep- 
resent to Congress that the half pay granted by 
sundry resolutions was regarded in an' unfavorable 
light by the citizens of some of these States, who 
would prefer a compensation for a limited term of 
years or by a sum in gross, to an establishment for 
life, &c. To satisfy the memorialists and the country 
five years full pay was granted in lieu of half pay 
for life, and it is for this commutation that petitions are 
pouring in upon you, and claims, arising under the 
resolution just referred to, and those, the adjustment 
of which the bill proposes to transfer to the Treasury 
Department with rules of evidence which might pos- 
sibly facilitate, as the committee suppose, the allow- 
ance of some just claims, but which will at the 
same time open a wide door for imposition and for 
the assertion of rights which have no legal or equi- 
table foundation, and which may still be honestly 
urged by the heirs of deceased officers. Sir, (said 
Mr. P. ) is it not admitted by the report that this 
will be the operation to some extent ? 

Speaking of these rules, the committee say : "It 
is possible that their universal application may lead 
to the allowance of some claims which do not come 
strictly within the original terms, but this will be no 
new evil ; and it is certain if they are not applied 
many just claims must be rejected for the want of 
technical proof. " To the correctness of this last 
clause he must be excused for withholding his assent. 
If evil has heretofore arisen or is liable to arise, 



SPEECII ON REVOLUTIONARY CLAIMS. 41 

from application of the said rules of evidence, is that 
now to be used as an argument in favor of transfer- 
ring duties from the House to one of the Departments 
and transferring them with instructions binding the 
Secretary, and making certain the continuance of the 
evil? He trusted not. If presumption and not 
evidence was to be the ground on which claims are 
to be allowed in any instance, would it not be more 
wise to retain them here, where a spirit of liberality 
and yet a sound discretion, may be exercised in each 
particular case, according to its circumstances, 
than to give them a direction anywhere else, accom- 
' panied by instructions which it«was admited might 
lead, and which in his humble "judgment would in- 
evitably lead, to the acknowledgment of many un- 
just claims ? • 

Again, the committee say, " If there is any ap- 
prehension that the principles here declared are too 
liberal, it must be recollected that the tendency of 
legislation for individual claims is constantly to en- 
large the basis of right ; while the effect of trans- 
ferring them to another tribunal, more judicial in 
its character, will probably be to retain that basis 
essentially within the limits fixed at the moment of 
transfer. If, therefore, it should be supposed, or 
even admitted, that the principles asserted in the bill 
are more liberal than the present practice of Congress, 
it may be considered certain that in its continued 
action, they would soon be surpassed in liberality." 
That is, if we are acting upon too liberal principles — 



42 LIFE OF FRANKLIN PIERCE. 

too much upon presumption — we had better at once 
send out these presumptions to be the guide of oth- 
ers, than longer to trust ourselves. Why? Be- 
cause " The tendency of legislation for individual 
claims is constantly to enlarge the basis of right," 
and we are in danger of beino* further from those 
principles which should govern prudent legislators, 
watchful of the interests of those whom they repre- 
sent, as they would be of their own, than we now 
are. Mr. P. said, however just this might be in 
point of fact, he was not yet prepared to admit it as 
a principle of action ; and, while no one would lend 
his support more readily to any claim that might 
come here sustained by proper evidence, he trusted 
the correctness of such a proposition might never 
find support in any vote of his. 

Speaking of the operation of the limitation acts, 
the committee say further : " Driven from the or- 
dinary means of redress, individual claimants, from 
time to time, resorted to Congress for relief. At 
first, it may have been matter of consideration 
and of serious question, whether relief should be 
afforded after the limitation had expired, and the 
party was at least held to account for his delay, 
but in process of time it became, as it now is, a 
matter of course to gr^int relief in every case in 
which the claimant brings himself by proof within 
the terms of the resolution on which the claim is 
founded, and has not been already paid." Mr. P. 
trusted that wrong practice and precedent, founded 



SPEECH ON REVOLUTIONARY CLAIMS. 43 

in error, were not to be regarded as a guide here. 
He solemnly believed that if precedent and prac- 
tice were to be relied upon, gentlemen might readily 
find justification for going almost any length in 
any direction. In the case before the House, 
it was so exceedingly probable, that all claims found- 
ed in right were adjusted, and so fallible and uncer- 
tain was human testimony, after a lapse of fifty 
years, that he had no hesitation in declaring it as 
his firm conviction, that the former course was the 
proper one ; and that applicants who came in after 
the extension act 1702, should always have been 
held to account for their delay. It was not, of 
course, intended to give commutation to those, or the 
heirs of those, who received certificates in 1784, or 
who have, at any time since, under any circumstan- 
ces, received commutation. 

Before, then, examining more particularly the pre- 
sumptions which this bill directs the Secretary to 
assume, let us consider, for a moment, what are the 
natural presumptions in the case. The commuta- 
tion provided for by the resolutions of 1783, was ori- 
ginally directed to be adjusted by commissioners or 
other accounting officers, appointed by Congress ; 
and it was supposed that certificates were almost 
universally granted in 1781. Why should it not 
have been so ? They were ready, upon application 
and the production of the proper evidence ; and he put 
it to the House, whether the provisions of that reso- 
lution, and the rights accruing under it, considering 



44 LIFE OF FBAIsEXIN PIEBCB. 

the circumstances under which it was passed, upon 
the application of the officers themselves, must not 
have been known to eveVy officer living within the 
limits of the Hinted States ? Mr. P. thought it ut- 
terly incredible that it should have been otherwise. 
Whenever there had been any action upon the sub- 
ject of pensions in latter times, what period had 
elapsed before that action, whether favorable or un- 
favorable, and almost every particular attending it, 
had, through one channel or another, reached the 
humble dwelling of every survivor of that noble 
band. Bat upon the supposition of their remote- 
situation from the accounting officers, some might, 
by possibility, have been precluded from obtain- 
ing their rights. An act was passed on the 27th 
of March, 1792, suspending the operation of the 
limitation act, for two years, and, under this exten- 
sion, remaining claims, or such as were presented, 
were adjusted at the Treasury Department, by what 
were then termed ' certificates of registered debt.' 

Again, he inquired whether it was within the 
bounds of reasonable propability, that any claims 
were held up after this period, if they were ever in- 
tended to be enforced ? Sir, (-aid Mr. P.,) it is to 
be remembered that, during all this time, it was 
not, as it unfortunately now is. There were hosts 
of living witnesses among the officers with whom 
the claimants served, and the soldiers whom they 
commanded. 1\ or is the advantage which the offi- 
cer had, from his position over the private soldier, of 



SPEECH ON REVOLUTIONARY CLAIMS. 45 

proving every particular connected with his service, 
and its duration, to be overlooked. Men engaged in 
the same great cause, and serving in the same 
camp, were no strangers to each other. Never, per- 
haps, was there a band bound together by such 
ties of affection, intimacy, and confidence. Ge- 
nius, honor, and unshaken valor, then went hand in 
hand, and were in exercise, not from low consider- 
ations of personal aggrandizement, but to vindicate 
a nation's rights. The links that bound men to- 
gether at that day, exist not now. Their intima- 
cies and their friendship were those which, perhaps, 
from our very natures, can only spring up and flour- 
ish amidst the mutual dangers and privations of a 
camp. At the period of which he spoke, every in- 
cident of the exciting and eventful struggle through 
which they had just passed, must have been fresh 
and vivid in the recollections of all. Nothing need 
then have been left to doubt, nothing to presump- 
tion. Cut this is not all. From 179-1 down to this 
hour, there had been the same opportunity to obtain 
equitable rights, by application to Congress, that 
exists at present. "With these facts before us, (said 
Mr. P.,) if the natural presumption be not that all 
just claims have been satisfied according to the pro- 
visions of the resolutions of 1783, he confessed that 
the conclusions at which he had arrived were singu- 
larly erroneous. 

The House had nothing to do with the question 
of the value of the certificates ; they were, without 



46 LIFE OF FRANKLIN PIERCE. 

doubt, nearly valueless in the hands of a large por- 
tion of the original holders. This subject was most 
satisfactorily discussed in the able and elaborate 
reports made to both Houses at the first session of 
the 21st Congress, when the act was passed provi- 
ding for the officers who were entitled to half pay 
by the resolve of 1780, and for the non-commissioned 
officers and soldiers who enlisted for and served to 
the close of the war. 

The views taken in these reports were interest- 
ing and instructive upon this subject. But he was 
considering what was the natural presumption as 
to commutation rights still existing ; and, if his 
views were in any tolerable degree correct, it was 
diametrically opposed to the legal presumption to 
be established by the passage of this bill. 

Sir, (continued Mr. P.,) we are told that the evi- 
dence of records is exceedingly imperfect ; and I 
assure the House that such is the fact to a much 
greater extent than I had supposed, before apjDiying 
to the Department for information. The muster 
rolls had been almost entirely destroyed by fire, and 
all the records, from various casualties, were bro- 
ken, but this deficiency of record evidence was, in 
his estimation, much more the misfortune of the 
Government than of the claimants who came here 
after the lapse of fifty years. But pass your pre- 
sumptions, sir, (said he,) and you will have little oc- 
casion for evidence. It is said that the rules which 
are to be regarded as fixed principles by the Depart- 



SPEECH ON REVOLUTIONARY CLAIMS. 47 

ment, provided tins bill pass, are the same as those 
which the committee have adopted in the investiga- 
tion of claims coming before them. If so, and they 
accorded with the sentiments of the House, he con- 
fessed it was a matter of very little consequence 
whether they were applied here or elsewhere ; and 
he was happy that the bill had been reported, that 
the opinion of the House might be deliberately and 
understanding^ expressed upon the propriety of 
their adoption. Sir, (said Mr. P.,) will not their 
operation be that of a new law upon the subject of 
commutation ? Look at the first presumption of the 
bill. It has the advantage of being plain ; there is 
no ambiguity about it — " It being established that 
an officer of the continental line was in service, as 
such, on the 21st of October, 1780, and until the 
new arrangement of the army, provided for by the 
resolution of that date, was effected, he shall be pre- 
sumed, unless it appear that he was then retain- 
ed in service, to have been reduced by that ar- 
rangement, and therefore entitled to half-pay for life, 
or the commutation in lieu of it." The onuspro- 
handl was shifted ; the burded of proof was not 
left where it was intended it should rest — with the 
claimant — but it was thrown upon Government. 
He presumed it was not expected that the Govern- 
ment would send agents abroad to obtain negative 
evidence from living witnesses. How, then, was it 
to be shown, in the present imperfect state of the 
records, that an officer was not reduced, and did 



43 LIFE OF FRANKLIN PIERCE. 

voluntarily leave the service ? The effect of such 
instructions would virtually be to give commutation 
to all those who were in service on the 2 1st of Oc- 
tober, 1TS0, and until the new arrangement was ef- 
fected, instead of to those only who were actually 
reduced, as was originally contemplated. 

He called the attention of the House to the sec- 
ond presumption : " 2d. A continental officer, proved 
to have remained in service after the arrangement 
of the army under said resolution of October, 1780, 
shall be presumed to have served to the end of the 
war, or to have retired, entitled to half-pay for life, 
unless it appear that he died in the service, or re- 
signed, or was dismissed, or voluntarily abandoned an 
actual command in the service of the United States." 
This, also, manifestly made new provision, granting 
commutation to those who were in service after the 
new arrangement in 17S0, instead of to those who 
actually served to the close of the war ; for, in the 
state of record evidence, as declared by the com- 
mittee, how was it possible for the Government to 
prove, in very many instances, that the claimant, or 
the ancestor of the present claimant, " died in the 
service, or resigned, or was dismissed, or voluntarily 
abandoned a command in the service of the United 
States?' There was no possible means of doing it. 

Mr. P. would pursue the subject no further. If 
there was no fallacy in these premises, and the con- 
clusions were legitimate, they were sufficient for his 
purpose. The House would not think of passing 



SPEECH OX EEVOLUTIOKAEY CLAIMS. 4:0 

the bill in its present shape. He ought not longer 
to ask the attention of gentlemen, for which he was 
already under great obligation. Such were some of 
the objections to the bill that had occurred to Mr. 
P., and thus much he thought it his duty to say. 
For the committee making the report he entertain- 
ed the highest respect ; and he believed that he was 
no less disposed than they were to grant, to the ut- 
termost farthing, all that was due to Revolutionary 
officers or their heirs. But (said Mr. P.) pass this 
bill, and you will do great injustice to the country ; 
you will make a most exhausting draft upon your 
treasury, to answer, it may be, some equitable 
claims that may as well be liquidated without it, 
and you will, it is morally certain, be compelled, 
under it, to acknowledge a vast number which have 
no foundation in justice — no foundation anywhere, 
except in lost records and violent presumptions. 



feO LIFE OF FRANKLIN PIERCE. 



CHAPTER IV. 

SPEECH ON THE DEPOSITS QUESTION. 

On the 28th of April, 1836, in the House of Rep- 
resentatives, Mr. Pierce, of New-Hampshire, rose 
and remarked that, not seeing the gentleman from 
Virginia, (Mr. Dromgoole) in his seat, he would 
move to take up the resolution submitted by that 
gentleman, calling on the Treasury Department for 
certain information in reference to the cleposite of 
the public moneys, and the amendment thereto of- 
fered by another gentleman from Virginia, (Mr. 
Wise.) Mr. P. thought it was due to the Secretary 
of the Treasury and to themselves, that the resolu- 
tion should be taken up and disposed of. 

Objection being made, Mr. Pierce moved to sus- 
pend the rules, which was agreed to, ayes 103, noes 
not counted. The resolution was then read, the 
question pending being the amendment of Mr. Wise, 
as modified at the suggestion of Mr. Calhoun, of 
Massachusetts, proposing also to raise a select com- 
mittee to inquire into the various subjects connect- 
ed with the deposites of the public moneys in certain 
local banks, Mr. Bond, who had spoken on two for- 
mer days, addressed the House for the third time 
on the subjects embraced in the resolutions. The 
nation found itself in possession of about thirty- 



SPEECH ON THE DEPOSITE QUESTION. 51 

seven millions of dollars, ail of which was in the 
hands of the deposite banks, which moneys were 
unsafe, he contended, in those institutions, because 
the banks were not sufficiently responsible to the 
Government for those moneys, and because of the 
small capital of those banks. He alluded to the 
communication from the Secretary of the Treasury, 
about the time the deposites were removed, in which 
it was stated that the domestic exchanges would be 
improved by that removal, and to the circular of the 
Clinton Bank of Columbus, a young institution, with 
a smaller capital than many others in that part of the 
country, which refused to take the notes of specie 
paying banks in its own neighborhood, and received 
those of distant banks, which, he argued, would 
have the tendency of deranging the exchanges. 
This system, he said, would have the effect of com- 
pelling those who had money to pay for public lands 
to get their moneys shaved by brokers, for the pur- 
pose of getting moneys which this bank would re- 
ceive. These deposite banks might transfer moneys 
to those brokers, which could be used for the pur- 
pose of shaving. When our moneys were in this 
uncertain state, he did not think gentlemen ought 
to sit and fold their arms, and not go into an exam- 
ination of the condition of those moneys. If the 
investigation was not now gone into, it would give 
the guaranty to those banks that an investigation 
would never be had, and, as a consequence of this, 
they would go on in their speculations, and he fear- 



52 LITE OF FRANKLIN PIEECE. 

ed that, by the next December, they should have an 
account of empty boxes. He asserted, without fear 
of contradiction, that many of the deposite banks 
were not able to repay the money to the Govern- 
ment which they were entrusted with, and pay the 
debts due to other creditors. It was, to be sure, as- 
serted that the banks had four dollars to one to pay 
their Government deposites with. But it must be 
recollected there were other creditors to be paid be- 
sides the Government. He alluded to the agent of 
the deposite banks, and asked if he was not an agent 
of the Government, why it was that he had a 
room in the building occupied by the Treasury De- 
partment? This he did not consider proper, and 
contended that no individual should be allowed to 
have an office in the same building with the Treasury 
Department, who was not connected with it, and 
responsible to the head of that Department. He 
went into an examination to show the amount of mon- 
eys the Government had lost by local banks, and 
argued that the same result might again be expect- 
ed. • 

Mr. Pierce of New-Hampshire, followed. Mr. 
Speaker : I do not propose to discuss the deposite 
question, though there are few more fruitful sub- 
jects, as experience has taught us, and none pre- 
senting more ample materials with less of laborious 
research. What power Congress possesses over the 
deposit banks — 'Whether they are safe or unsafe — 
whether they constitute a United States bank to all 



SPEECH OX THE DEPOSITS QUESTION. 53 

intents and purposes, as the gentleman from Massa- 
chusetts (Mr. Calhoun) alleges — and whether that 
is to be made an objection to them in a certain 
quarter, as depositories of public moneys, are ques- 
tions which will very properly come under our con- 
sideration, when the bill upon your table, for which 
a special day has been assigned, shall be taken up. 
At present, the question legitimately before the 
House appears to me to be : What is the appropri- 
ate and judicious mode of seeking the information 
contemplated alike by the original resolution pre- 
sented by the gentleman from Virginia, (Mr. Drom- 
goole,) and the amendment proposed by his honor- 
able colleague, (Mr. Wise.) To this question I 
should have confined myself, exclusively, but for 
certain extraordinary assertions and grave charges 
which have been preferred against the Secretary of 
the Treasury ; and to repel even these may be re- 
garded as the work of supererogation ; for, in this 
country, there is, fortunately, so much intelligence 
— the avenues to correct information, open to all, are 
so multiplied and various, that no administration, 
and no public officer, can suffer long from mere bold, 
sweeping denunciation. And he who expects to 
make a successful attack, with such weapons alone, 
does great injustice to the character of the yeoman- 
ry of this county, in whose hands are its destinies. 
They are watchful of their public servants, jealous, 
if you please ; but they are at the same time just, 
They are not convinced, and they cannot be alarm- 



54: LIFE OF FRANKLIN PIERCE. 

cd by mere naked charges. They look beyond the 
charges to the evidence upon which they are predi- 
cated, and so, I trust, will this House do, before 
they adopt any new and extraordinary course of 
proceeding. Whether Mr. Whitney, whose name 
has been so often introduced in the course of this 
debate, is the agent of a corporation, or any number 
of corporations — the agent of individuals, or no 
agent at all, is to me an affair of perfect indiffer- 
ence. If he is not a public officer, or in pay of the 
Government (and I understand that neither is the 
fact,) the nature of his agencies, if such he have, and 
the compensation he may receive for his services, 
are matters into which I have as little curiosity as 
right to inquire. Whether he occupies a room in 
the block of buildings, a portion of which is rented 
for the accommodation of the Treasury Department, 
or a room on the opposite side of the avenue, are 
questions in which the House can feel no possible 
interest, however much gentlemen may attempt to 
make of it in debate. 

But there are other subjects, as the gentleman 
from Ohio has justly observed, of the highest 
importance. For instance, if the Secretary of the 
Treasury, or any agent of the Department by his or- 
der, or with bis approbation, has adopted a new rule, 
with regard to what money shall be received for pub- 
dues, operating injuriously upon any portion of 
the country, it deserves prompt consideration; the 
cause should be inquired into without delay. This 



SPEECH ON THE DEPOSITE QUESTION.' 55 

charge, the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Bond,) has 
distinctly made. I shall not, in replying, retort the 
harsh terms the gentleman has thought proper to 
apply to the Secretary, but I will pronounce his po- 
sition erroneous, and assert that the terms, in this re- 
spect, have never been more liberal, except during 
the suspension of specie payments, than since the 
removal of the deposites from the United States 
Bank. The same construction has been given to the 
laws relating to this subject from the days of Mr. 
Hamilton's administration to the present time. 
That the gentleman's complaint in this particular is 
unreasonable and without foundation, is shown con- 
clusively by a report of the Secretary of the Treas- 
ury, read in the Senate on Tuesday last; and I will 
not take up the time of the House by pursuing a 
proposition which, in that report is clearly demon- 
strated. I thank the gentleman, Mr. Speaker, for 
having called the attention of the House, particular- 
ly to the deposite bank of the State which I have 
the honor in part to represent — the Commercial 
Bank at Portsmouth, which the gentleman denom- 
inates, I suppose, by the way of eminence, " the 
special pet in particular of the Secretary of the 
Treasury P Now, a moment's examinaton will show 
what constitutes, in the gentleman's estimation " a 
special pet in particular." On the 18th of the pres- 
ent month, there was on deposite in the Commer- 
cial Bank at Porthsmouth, one hundred and nine- 
teen thousand seven hundred and thirteen dollars ; 



56 LIFE OF FEAKKLIN PIERCE. 

out of which the pensions of the State, your appro- 
priations for the Navy Yard at that place, and all 
other expenditures accruing there, are to be paid. 
At the same date there was on deposite in the city 
of Cincinnati alone, more than two millions of dol- 
lars. 

Mr. Eond : The Commercial Bank at Cincinnati, 
by what authority I know not, has established an 
agency at St. Louis, Missouri, and much the greater 
part of the public deposite held by that bank is at 
this agency, and not in the State of Ohio. 

Mr Pierce resumed : It is quite immaterial ; 
the bank at Cincinnati is responsible for it. There 
was on deposite in the State of Ohio at the date be- 
fore given, two millions four hundred and fifty-five 
thousand one hundred and thirty-six dollars, which 
is more than quadruple the amount on deposite in 
New Jersey and Delaware, and all the New Eng- 
land States together, with the exception of Massa- 
chusetts. Such, sir, is the evidence of favoritism on 
the part of the Secretary, of which the gentleman 
from Ohio complains ; and he is at liberty to make 
the most of it. The Secretary, in his annual report, 
under the head of ' Deposite Banks and the Curren- 
cy,' says "The payments to creditors, officers and 
pensioners, have been punctual and convenient, and 
the whole fiscal operations through the State Banks 
have as yet, proved highly satisfactory. Incidental 
to this, the facilities that have been furnished to 
the commercial community in domestic exchanges, 



SPEECH ON THE DEPOSITS QUESTION. 57 

were probably never greater, or at so moderate 
rates. 1 ' This the gentleman does not hesitate to pro- 
nounce false. I do not say this of his assertion, but 
will content myself with opposing to that assertion 
facts, of which he may dispose at his leisure. 
The deposite banks are required to state, on the back 
of their semi-monthly returns, the rates of exchange 
at the places where they are located, and on the 
18th of the present month, those returns show that 
at the various points where complaints have been 
made — at ]STew-Orleans, Mobile, Cincinnati, Bal- 
timore, Philadelphia, and the Atlantic cities — in 
no instance has exchange been higher than one 
per cent., in many a half and a quarter, and others at 
par. 

Mr. Bond : I said it was stated in a newspa- 
per, received yesterday from Cincinnatti, that the 
notes of all the Ohio banks out of the city were at 
a discount of four per cent.; and that a friend of 
mine now here (but who resides in Cincinnati) had 
just informed me that exchange could not be had 
there on Philadelphia or New York, for less than 
one to one and a half per cent., and that no consid- 
erable amount could be had at either of these rates. 

Mr. P. resumed. Undoubtedly, and the gentleman's 
friend has been no more unfortunate in finding high 
rates of exchange than individuals and the teeming 
press in other places. I do not say that there is a 
panic-manufacturing spirit abroad, but I feel bound 
to rely upon official statements from the different 



58 LIFE OF FRANKLIN" PIERCE. 

points, in preference to the declaration of any indi- 
vidual or newspaper paragraphs. 

Decided exception has been taken to one of the 
articles of agreement entered into between the Gov- 
ernment and the cleposite banks. It is in the fol- 
lowing words: "If the Secretary of the Treasury 
shall think it proper to employ an agent or agents, 
to examine and report upon the accounts and condi- 
tion of the banks in the service of the Government, 
or any of them, the said bank agrees to pay an equi- 
table proportion of his, or their expenses, and com- 
pensation according to such apportionment as may be 
made by the said Secretary." Is it not the duty of 
the Secretary, as a faithful public officer, to make 
every provision that prudence can suggest for the 
safe keeping of the public moneys ? Should he hold 
no control over the agents of his own appointment ? 
While the banks consent to a stipulation of this 
kind, it is difficult to conceive why the representa- 
tives of the people should object. But my object, 
in referring to this article, which is regarded with 
so much alarm, is chiefly to state that no agent has 
ever been appointed by the present Secretary, and 
that the power has been exercised only on two oc- 
casions since the withdrawal of the deposites from 
the United States Bank, with neither of which has 
the mysterious "Whitney had any connection ; one 
of those agencies, which was to examine into the 
condition of the Union Bank at Baltimore, su^ires- 
tions against its solvency having been made durino- 



SPEECH ON THE DEPOSITE QUESTION. 59 

the panic era, consisted of Mr. Reverdy Johnson, 
then, and I believe now, a decided opponent of the 
present administration, and Mr. Howard, of Balti- 
more. About the same period, upon similar sug- 
gestions, Judge Ellis, of Mississippi, was appointed 
to inquire into the state of the Planters' Bank ; 
these are the only occasions on which the power has 
been exercised. Where, Mr. Speaker, is the evi- 
dence of inducement on the part of the present 
Secretary to conceal aught from the public eye, as 
charged by the gentleman from Virginia, (Mr. 
Wise) or where is the evidence of the more extraor- 
dinary charge of the same gentleman, that the Sec- 
retary has done it? Is it to be found in the 
document which I hold in my hand, going fully and 
minutely into the subject, and showing how and 
where every dollar of your money was deposited 
at the time of date ? ~No sir, no sir ! The Secretary 
has not only given a specific and detailed statement 
upon the subject, but he has more than once ap- 
pealed to you, to take away his j;>resent broad lati- 
tude of discretion, under which, without your 
legislation, he is compelled to act, and that request 
is repeated in this very report. The Secretary 
says : " The Department is aware that in the pres- 
ent overflowing condition of the Treasury, the regu- 
lation of these operations, with the selection and 
superintendence of the deposit banks, is a task of 
no small difficulty or delicacy, and when governed 
by a strict and uniform adherence to sound princi- 



CO LIFE OF FKAN-KLIN PIERCE. 

pies, as has been attempted, must necessarily lead 
to many disappointed applications. But in the ab- 
sence of that specific legislation on the subject, 
which has been, and still is earnestly requested, the 
Department has not hesitated (it is hoped faithfully) 
to discharge, and frankly to explain, the duties and 
the high and painful responsibility, which so much 
discretionary power has imposed." I believe this 
high responsibility could barely be entrusted to 
abler, or more faithful hands ; but I would not have 
it rest even there. All I say is, let us attend to 
our own appropriate duties, before we heap grave 
charges upon co-ordinate departments of the Gov- 
ernment. If the gentleman from Virginia, (Mr. 
Wise) was not misled himself, his remarks in rela- 
tion to the report of which he complains, as not con- 
taining the whole truth, were manifestly calculated 
to mislead the public. That report was not made 
by the present Secretary, but by another distin- 
guished individual, who has been recently appointed 
by the President and his constitutional advisers, to 
which body of constitutional advisers that report 
was made, to a situation which, in point of dignity 
and high responsibility, is hardly inferior to that of 
the Chief Magistracy itself. I could add nothing, 
if I were disposed, to such a commentary on the 
report, and the gentleman making it. 



SPEECH ON THE WEST POINT ACADEMY. 61 

SPEECH 
OX THE WEST POTXT ACADEMY. 

The following speech was delivered by Mr. Pierce 
June 30, 1836, upon a Bill making appropriations 
for the Military Academy of the United States for 
the year 1836. It will be found by the reader to be 
able and statesmanlike : 

Mr. Pierce, of Xew-Hampshire, rose and ad- 
dressed the chair as follows : " Mr. Chairman — An 
attempt was made during the last Congress to bring 
the subject of the re-organization of the Military 
Academy before the country, through a report of a 
committee. The same thing has been done during 
the present session, again and again, but all efforts 
have proved alike unsuccessful ! Still you do not 
cease to call for appropriations ; you require the 
people's money for the support of the institution, 
while you refuse them the light necessary to enable 
them to judge of the propriety of your annual requi- 
sitions. "Whether the amount proposed to be ap- 
propriated by the bill upon the table is too great, or 
too small, or precisely sufficient to cover the current 
expenses of the institution, is a matter into which I 
will not at present inquire, but I shall feel bound to 
oppose the bill in every stage of its progress. I 
cannot vote a single dollar until the resolution of 
inquiry, presented by my Mend from Kentucky, 
(Mr. Hawes,) at an early day in the session, shall 
' 4 



62 LIFE OF FEANEXIN PIERCE. 

be first taken up and disposed of. I am aware, sir, 
that it will be said, because I have heard the same 
declaration on a former occasion, that this is not a 
proper time to discuss the merits of the institution ; 
that the bill is to make provision for the expenses 
already incurred in part, and whatever opinions may 
be entertained upon the necessity of a re-organiza- 
tion, the appropriation must be made. I say to 
gentlemen who are opposed to the principles of the 
institution, and those who believe that abuses exist, 
which ought to be exposed and corrected, that now 
is their only time, and this the only opportunity, 
during the present session, to attain their object, 
and I trust they will steadily resist the bill, until 
its friends shall find it necessary to take up the res- 
olution of inquiry, and give it its proper reference. 
Sir, why has this investigation been resisted ? Is 
it not an institution which has already cost this 
country more than three millions of dollars, for 
which you propose, in this very bill, an appropria- 
tion of more than one hundred and thirty thousand, 
and which at the same time, in the estimation of 
a large portion of the citizens of this Union, has 
failed, eminently failed, to fulfill the objects for 
which it was established, of sufficient interest and 
importance to claim the consideration of a commit- 
tee of this House, and of the House itself? I should 
have expected the resolution of the gentleman from 
Kentucky, (Mr.Hawes) merely proposing an inquiry, 
to pass without opposition, had I not witnessed the 



SPEECH ON THE WEST POIN T T ACADEMY. 63 

strong sensation, nay, excitement, that was produced 
here at the last session, by the presentation of his 
yet unpublished report. Sir, if you would have an 
exhibition of highly excited feeling, it requires little 
observation to learn that you may produce it at any 
moment, by attacking such laws as confer exclusive 
and gratuitous privileges. The adoption of the res- 
olution of inquiry, at the last session of Congress, 
and the appointment of a select committee under it, 
were made the occasion of newspaper paragraphs 
which, in tone of lamentation and direful predic- 
tion, rivaled the most highly wrought specimens 
of the panic era. One of those articles I preserved, 
and have before me. It commences thus. : " The 
architects of ruin. This name has been appropri- 
ately given to those who are leading on the base, 
the ignorant, and the unprincipled, in a remorseless 
war upon all the guards and defences of society." 

I introduce it here merely to show what are, in 
certain quarters, considered the guards and defen- 
ces of society. After various compliments, similar 
to that just cited, the article proceeds : " All this 
is dangerous as novel, and the ultimate results can- 
not be contemplated without anxiety. If this spirit 
extends, who can check it ? ' Down with the bank ;' 
* down with the Military Academy ;' ' down with 
the judiciary ;' ' down with the Senate ;' will be fol- 
lowed by watch-words of a worse character." Here, 
Mr. Chairman, you have the United States Bank 



64 LIFE OF FEANKLOT PIERCE. 

first, and then the Military Academy, as the guards 
and defences of your country. If it be so, you are 
indeed feebly protected. One of these guards and 
defences is already tottering. And who are the 
architects of ruin that have resolved its downfall ? 
Are they the base, the ignorant, and the unprinci- 
pled ? No, sir. The most pure and patriotic por- 
tion of your community; the staid, industrious, 
intelligent farmers and mechanics, through a public 
servant, who has met responsibilities, and seconded 
their wishes with equal intrepidity and success, in 
the camp and in the cabinet, have accomplished this 
great work. Mr. Chairman, there is no real danger 
to be apprehended from this much dreaded level- 
ling principle. 

From the midling interest you have derived your 
most able and efficient support in the most gloomy 
and trying periods of your history. And what have 
they asked in return? Nothing but the common 
advantages and blessings of a free Government, ad- 
ministered under equal and impartial laws. They 
are responsible for no portion of your legislation, 
which, through its partial and unjust operation, has 
shaken this Union to its centre. That has had its 
origin in a different quarter, sustained by wealth, 
the wealth of monopolies, and the power and influ- 
ence which wealth, thus accumulated and disposed, 
never fails to control. Indeed, sir, while far from 
demanding at your hands special favors for them- 



SPEECH ON THE WEST POIXT ACADEMY. 65 

selves, they Lave not, in my judgment, been suffi- 
ciently jealous of all legislation conferring exclusive 
and gratuitous privileges. 

That the law creating the institution of which I 
am now speaking, and the practice under it, is 
strongly marked by both these characteristics, is ap- 
parent at a single glance. It is gratuitous^ because 
those who are so fortunate as to obtain admission 
there, receive their education without any obliga- 
tion, except such as a sense of honor may impose, 
to return, either by service or otherwise, the slight- 
est equivalent. It is exclusive, inasmuch as only 
one youth out of a population of more than 47,000 can 
participate in its advantages at the same time ; and 
those who are successful, are admitted at an age 
when their characters cannot have become devel- 
oped, and with very little knowledge of their adap- 
tation, mental or physical, for military life. The 
system disregards one of those great principles 
which, earned into practice, contributed perhaps, 
more than any other, to render the arms of Napo- 
leon invincible for so many years. Who does not 
•perceive that it destroys the very life and spring of 
military ardor and enthusiasm, by utterly foreclosing 
all hope of promotion to her soldier and non-com- 
missioned officer? However meritorious may be 
his services, however pre-eminent may become his 
qualifications for command, all are unavailing. 
The portcullis is dropped between him and prefer- 
ment, the wisdom of your laws having provided 



66 LIFE OF FTIANKLLN" PIERCE. 

another criterion than that of admitted courage and 
conduct, by which to determine who are worthy of 
command. They have made an Academy, where a 
certain number of young gentlemen are educated 
annually at the public expense, and to which there 
is, in consequence, a general rush, not so much from 
sentiments of patriotism, and a taste for military 
life, as from motives less worthy — the avenue, and 
the only avenue, to rank in your army. These are 
truths, Mr. Chairman, which no man will pretend 
to deny, and I leave it for this House and the nation 
to determine, whether they do not exhibit a spirit 
of exclusiveness, alike at variance with the genius 
of your Government, and the efficiency and chival- 
rous character of your military force. 

Sir, no man can feel more deeply interested in 
the army, or entertain a higher regard for it, than 
myself. My earliest recollections connect them- 
selves fondly and gratefully with the names of the 
brave men who, relinquishing the quiet and secu- 
rity of civil life, were staking their all upon the 
defence of their country's rights and honor. One 
of the most distinguished among their noble band 
now occupies and honors a seat upon this floor. It 
is not fit that I should indulge in expressions of 
personal respect and admiration, which I am sure 
would find a hearty response in the bosom of every 
member upon this committee. I allude to him 
merely to express the hope, that on some occasion 
we may have, upon this subject, the benefit of his 



SPEECH ON THE WEST POINT ACADECT. 67 

experience and observation. And if his opinions 
shall differ from my own, I promise carefully to 
review every step by which I have been led to my 
present conclusions. You cannot mistake me, sir. 
I refer to the hero of Erie. I have declared myself 
a friend of the army. Satisfy me, then, what meas- 
ures are best calculated to render it effective, and 
what all desire it to be, and I go for the proposition 
with my whole heart. 

But I cannot believe that th@> Military Academy, 
as at present organized, is calculated to accomplish 
this desirable end. It may, and undoubtedly does, 
send forth into the country much military knowl- 
edge ; but the advantage which your army, or that 
which will constitute your army in time of need, 
derives from it, is by no means commensurate with 
the expense you incur. Here, Mr. Chairman, per- 
mit me to say that I deny utterly the expediency 
and the right to educate at the public expense, any 
number of young men who, on the completion of 
their education, are not to form a portion of your 
military force, but to return to the walks of private 
life. Such was never the operation of the Military 
Academy until after the law of 1812 ; and the doc- 
trine, so far as I have been able to ascertain, was 
first formally announced by a distinguished indi- 
vidual, at this time sufficiently jealous of the exer- 
cise of executive patronage, and greatly alarmed by 
what he conceives to be the tendencies of this Gov- 
ernment to centralism and consolidation. It may 



68 LIFE OF FRANKLIN" PIERCE. 

*be found in the report of the Secretary of War, 
commimicated to Congress in 1S19. 

If it shall, upon clue consideration, receive the 
sanction of Congress and the country, I can see no 
limit to the exercise of power and Government pat- 
ronage. Follow out the principle, and where will 
it lead you ? You confer upon the National Gov- 
ernment the absolute guardianship of literature and 
science, military and civil ; you need not stop at 
military sciences — any one in the wide range of sci- 
ences, becomes at once a legitimate and constitu- 
tional object of your patronage ; you are confined 
by no limit but your discretion ; you have no check 
but your own good pleasure. If you may afford in- 
struction at the public expense, in the languages, in 
philosophy, in chemistry and in the exact sciences, 
to young gentlemen who are under no obligation 
to enter the service of their country, but are in fact, 
destined for civil life, why may you not by parity 
of reasoning provide the means of a legal, or theo- 
logical, or medical education, on the ground that 
the recipients of your bounty will carry forth a fund 
of useful knowledge that may at some time, under 
some circumstances, produce a beneficial influence, 
and promote "the general welfare?" Sir, I fear 
that even some of us may live to see the day, when 
the "general welfare" of your constitution will leave 
us little ground to boast of a government of limited 
powers. But I did not propose at this time to dis- 
cuss the abstract question of constitutional rights. 



SPEECH ON THE WEST POINT ACADEMY. 69 

I will regard the expediency alone ; and whether 
the former exists or not, its exercise in an institu- 
tion like this, is subversive of the only principle 
upon which a school, conducted at the public ex- 
pense, can be made profitable to the public ser- 
vice — that of making an admission into your school 
and an education there secondary to an appointment 
in the army. Sir, this distinctive feature charac- 
terized all your legislation and all executive recom- 
mendations down to 1810. 

I may as well notice here, as at any time, an 
answer which has always been ready when objec- 
tions have been raised to this institution — an 
answer which, if it has not proved quite satisfactory 
to minds that yield their assent more readily to 
strong reasons than to the authority of great names, 
has yet unquestionably exercised a powerful influ- 
ence upon the public mind. It has not gone forth 
upon the authority of an individual merely, but has 
been published to the world with the approbation of 
a committee of a former Congress. It is this — that 
the institution has received at different times the 
sanction of such names as Washington, Adams and 
Jefferson; and this has been claimed with such 
boldness, and in a form so imposing, as almost to 
forbid any question of its accuracy. If this were 
correct in point of fact, it would be entitled to the 
most profound respect and consideration, and no 
change should be urged against the weight of such 
authority, without mature deliberation, and thor- 
4* 



70 LIFE OF FEANEXIN PIEECE. 

ough conviction of expediency. Unfortunately for 
the advocates of the institution, and fortunately for 
the interests of the country, this claim cannot be 
sustained by reference to executive documents, from 
the first report of General Knox, in 1T90, to the 
close of Mr. Jefferson's administration. 

The error has, undoubtedly, innocently occurred, 
by confounding the Military Academy at West Point 
as it was, with the Military Academy at West Point 
as it is. The report of Secretary Knox just refered 
to is characterized by this distinctive feature' — that 
the corps proposed to be organized were " to serve 
as an actual defence to the community," and to con- 
stitute a part of the active force of the country, "to 
serve in the field, or on the frontire, or in the fortifi- 
cations of the sea coast, as the commander-in-chief 
may direct." At a later period, the report of the 
Secretary of War, Mr. McIIenry, communicated to 
Congress in 1800, although it proposed a plan for 
military schools, differing in many essential partic- 
ulars from those which had preceded it, still retained 
the distinctive feature just named as characterizing 
the report of Gen. Knox. 

With regard to educating young men gratuitous- 
ly, which, whatever may have been the design, I 
am prepared to show is the practical operation of 
the Academy, as at present organized, I cannot per- 
haps, exhibit more clearly the sentiments of the Ex- 
ecutive, urgent as was the occasion, and strong as 
must have been the desire to give strength and efi- 



SPEECH ON THE WEST POINT ACADEMY. 71 

ciency to the military force, than by reading one or 
two paragraphs from a supplementary report of Sec- 
retary McIIenry, addressed to the chairman of the 
Committee of Defence, on the 31st of January, 1800. 
The Secretary says: 

" Agreeably to the plan of the military Acade- 
my, the directors thereof are to be officers taken 
from the army ; consequently no expense will be 
incurred by such appointment. The plan also con- 
templates, that officers of the army, cadets and non- 
commissioned officers shall receive instructions in 
the Academy. As the ration and fuel which they 
are entitled to in the army will suffice for them in 
the Academy, no additional expense will be required 
for their maintenance while there. 

"The expenses of servants, and certain incidental 
expenses relative to the police and administra- 
tion, may be defrayed by those who shall be admit- 
ted, out of their pay and emoluments." 

You will observe, Mr. Chairman, from the phra. 
seology of the report, that all were to constitute a 
part of your actual military force; and that what- 
ever additional charges should be incurred were to 
be defrayed by those who might receive the advan- 
tages of instruction. These provisions, just, as' 
they are important. Let me call your attention 
for a moment to a report of Colonel Williams, which 
was made the subject of a special message commu- 
nicated to Congress by Mr. Jefferson, on the 18th ot 
March, 1808. 



72 LIFE OF FEANKLIN PIERCE. 

The extract I propose to read, as sustaining fully 
the views of Mr. McIIenry, upon this point, is in the 
following words : 

" It might be well to make the plan upon such a 
scale as not only to take in the minor officers of the 
JSTavy ; but also any youth from any of the States 
who might wish for such an education, whether de- 
signed for the Army or Navy, or neither, and 
let them be assessed to the value of their education, 
which might form a fund for extra or contingent ex- 
penses." 

Sir, these are the true doctrines upon this subject ; 
doctrines worthy of the administration under which 
they were promulgated, and in accordance with the 
views of statesmen in the earlier and purer days of 
the Republic. 

Give to the officers of your army the hightes ad- 
vantages for perfection in all the branches of mili- 
tary science, and let those advantages be open to all 
in rotation, and under such terms and regulations 
shall be at once impartial toward the officers, and 
advantageous to the service ; but let all young gen- 
tlemen who have a taste for military life, and desire 
to adopt arms as a profession, prepare themselves 
for subordinate situations at their own expense, or 
at the expense of their parents or guardians, in the 
same manner that the youth of our country are 
qualified for the professions of civil life. Sir, while 
upon this subject of gratuitous education, I will read 
an extract from " Dupin's Military Force of Great 



SPEECH OH THE WEST POINT ACADEMY. 73 

Britain," to show what favor it finds in another 
country, from the practice and experience of which 
we may derive some advantages, however far from 
approving of its institutions generally. The extract 
is from the 2nd vol., fist page, and relates to the 
terms on which young gentlemen are admitted to 
the junior departments of the Royal Military Col- 
lege at Sandhurst. 

" First ; the sons of officers of all ranks, whether 
of the land or sea forces, who have died in the ser- 
vice, leaving their families in pecuniary distress ; 
this class are instructed, boarded and habited, gra- 
tuitously by the State ; being required only to pro- 
vide their equipments on admission, and to main- 
tain themselves in linen. 

"Secondly : The sons of all officers of the army 
above the rank of subalterns, actually in the service 
and who pay a sum proportioned to their ranks, 
according to a scale per annum regulated by the su- 
preme board. The sons of living naval officers of 
rank not below that of master and commander, are 
also admitted on payment of annual stipends, simi- 
lar to those of corresponding ranks in the army. 
The orphan sons of officers, who have not left their 
families in pecuniary difficulties, are admitted into 
this class, on paying the stipends required of officers 
of the rank held by their parents at the time of their 
decease. 

"Thirdly: The sons of noblemen, and private 
gentlemen who pay a yearly sum equivalent to the 



74: LIFE OF FRANKLIN" PIERCE, 

expenses of their education, board and clothing, ac- 
cording to a rate regulated from time to time by the 
commissioners." 

Sir, let it be remembered that these are the regu- 
lations of a government which, with all its wealth 
and power, is, from its structure and practice, groan- 
' ing under the accumulated weight of pensions, sin- 
ecures, and gratuities ; and yet you observe that 
only one class, " the sons of officers of all ranks, 
whether of the land or sea forces, who have died in 
the service, leaving their families in pecuniary dis- 
tress," are educated gratuitously. I do not approve 
even of this ; but I hold it up in contrast with your 
own principles and practice. 

If the patience of the committee would warrant 
me, Mr. Chairman, I could show, by reference to 
executive communications, and the current legisla- 
tion of Congress, in 1794, 1796, 1802, and 1808, 
that, prior to the last mentioned date, such an insti- 
tution as we now have was neither recommended 
nor contemplated. Upon this point I will not de- 
tain you longer; but when hereafter confronted 
by the authority of great names, I trust we shall be 
told where the expressions of approbation are to be 
found. We may then judge of their applicability 
to the Military Academy as now organized. 

I am far from desiring to see this country desti- 
tute of a Military Academy ; but I would have it a 
school of practice, and instruction, for officers actu- 
ally in the service of the United States : not an 



SPEECH' ON THE WEST POTNT ACADEMY. 75 

institution for educating, gratuitously, young gentle- 
men, who, on the completion of their term, or after 
a few months' leave of absence, resign their com- 
missions, and return to the pursuits of civil life. 

If any one doubts that this is the practical opera- 
tion of jour present system, I refer him to the 
annuallist of resignations, to be found in the Adju- 
tant General's office. 

Firmly as I am convinced of the necessity of a 
re-organization, I would take no step to create an 
unjust prejudice against the institution. All that I 
ask, and so far as I know, all that any of the oppo- 
nents of the institution ask, is, that after a full and 
impartial investigation, it should stand or fall 
upon its merits. I know that there are graduates 
of the institution who are oraments to the army, and 
an honor to their country, but they, and not the sem- 
inary, are entitled to the credit. Here I would re- 
mark, once for all, that I do not reflect upon the offi- 
cers or pupils of the Academy ; it is to the princi- 
ples of the institution itself, as at present organized, 
that I object. It is often said, that the graduates 
leaye the institution with sentiments that but ill ac- 
cord with the feelings and opinions of the great mass 
of the people of that Government from which they 
deriye the means of education, and that many who 
take commissions possess few qualifications for the 
command of men, either in war or in peace. Most 
of the members of this House have had more or 
less intercourse with these young gentlemen ; and I 



76 Lite of franklin pierce. 

leave it for each individual to form his own opinion 
of the correctness of the charges. Thus much I 
will say for myself, that I believe that these, and 
greater evils, are the natural, if not the inevitable 
result of the principles in which this institution is 
founded ; and any system of education established 
upon similar principles, on Government patronage 
alone, will produce like results, now and for ever. 
Sir, what are some of these results ? By the Be- 
port of the Secretary of War, dated January, 1831, 
we are informed that, " by an estimate of the last 
five years, (preceding the date,) it appears that the 
supply of the army from the corps of graduated 
cadets has averaged about twenty-two annually, 
while those who graduate are about forty, making, 
in each year, an excess of eighteen. The number 
received annually into the Academy, averages one 
hundred, of which, only the number stated, to wit, 
forty, pass through the prescribed course of educa- 
tion at schools, and become supernumerary lieuten- 
ants in the army." By the report of the Secretary 
of War, December, 1830, we are informed that 
" the number of promotions to the army from this 
corps for the last five years, has averaged about 
twenty-two, annually, while the number of gradu- 
ates has been at an average of forty. This excess, 
which is annually increasing, has placed eighty-sev- 
en in waiting until vacancies shall take place, and 
show that, in the next year, probably, and in the 
succeeding one, certainly, there will be an excess 



SPEECH ON THE WEST POINT ACADEMY. 77 

beyond what the existing law authorizes to be com- 
missioned. There will then be one hundred and 
six supernumerary brevet second lieutenants, ap- 
purtenant to the army, at an average annual ex- 
pense of $80,000." Sir, that results here disclosed 
were not unticipated by Mr. Madison, is apparent 
from a recurrence to his messages of 1810, 1811. 

In passing the law of 1812, both Congress and the 
President acted for the occasion ; and they expected 
those who should succeed them, to act in a similar 
manner. Their feelings of patriotism and resent- 
ment were aroused, by beholding the privileges of 
freemen wantonly invaded, our glorious stars and 
stripes disregarded, and national and individual 
rights trampled in the dust. 

The war was pending. The necessity of increas- 
ing the military force of the country was obvious 
and pressing, and the urgent occasion for increased 
facilities for military instruction, equally apparent. 

Sir, it was under circumstances like these, when 
we had not only enemies abroad, but, I blush to say, 
enemies at home, that the institution, as at present 
organized, had its origin. It will hardly be pretend- 
ed that it was the original design of the law to aug- 
ment the number of persons instructed, beyond the 
wants of public service. 

"Well, the report of the Secretary shows that for 
five years prior to 1831, the Academy had furnished 
eighteen supernumeraries annually. A practical 
operation of this character has no sanction in th§ 



^8 LIFE OP FRANKLIN PIERCE. 

recommendation of Mr. Madison. The report dem- 
onstrates, further, the fruitfulness and utility of this 
institution, by showing the fact that but two-fifths of 
all those that enter the Academy, graduate, and that 
but a fraction more than one-fifth enter the public 
service. 

This is not the fault of the administration of the 
Academy ; it is not the fault of young gentlemen 
who are sent there. On your present peace estab- 
lishment, there can be but little to stimulate them, 
particularly in the acquisition of military science. 
There can hardly be but one object in the mind of 
the student, and that would be to obtain an educa- 
tion for the purposes of civil life. The difficulty is, 
that the institution has outlived both the occasion 
* that called it into existence, and its original design. 

I have before remarked, that the Academy was 
manifestly enlarged to correspond w r ith the army 
and militia actually to be called into service. Look, 
then, for a moment, at facts, and observe with how 
much wisdom, justice, and sound policy, you retain 
the provisions of the law of 1812. The total au- 
thorized force of 1813, after the declaration of war, 
was 58,254 ; and in October, 1814, the military es- 
tablishment amounted, to 62,428. By the act of 
March, 1815, the peace establishment was limited 
to 10,000, and now hardly exceeds that number. 
Thus you make a reduction of more than 50,000 in 
3 r our actual military force, to accommodate the ex- 
penses of the Government to its wants. And w r hy 



SPEECH ON THE WEST POINT ACADEMY. 79 

do you refuse to do the same with your grand sys- 
tem of public education ? Why does that remain 
unchanged ? Why not reduce it at once, at least to 
the actual wants of the service, and dispense with 
your corps of supernumerary lieutenants ? Sir, 
there is, there can be but one answer to the ques- 
tion, and that may be found in the war report of 
1819, to which I have before had occasion to allude. 
The Secretary says, " The cadets who cannot be pro- 
vided for in the army, will return to private life, but 
in the event of war, their knowledge will not be 
lost to the country." 

Indeed, sir, these young gentlemen, if they could 
be induced to take the field, would, after a lapse of 
ten or fifteen years, come up from the bar, or, it may 
be, the pulpit, fresh in military science, and admi- 
rably qualified for command in the face of an en- 
emy. 

The magazine of facts, to prove, at the same 
glance, the extravagance and unfruitfulness of the 
institution, is not easily exhausted ; but I ani ad- 
monished, by the lateness of the hour, to omit many 
considerations which I regard as both interesting 
and important. I will only detain the committee 
to make a single statement, placing side by side 
some aggregate results. There has already been 
expended upon the institution more than three mill- 
ions, three hundred thousand dollars. Between 
1815 and 1821, thirteen hundred and eighteen stu- 
dents were admitted into the Academy ; and of all 



80 LITE OF FRANKLIN PIERCE. 

the cadets who were ever there, only two hundred 
and sixty-five remained in the service at the end of 
1830. Here are the expenses yon have incurred, 
and the products you have realized. 

I leave them to be balanced by the people. But, 
for myself, believing as I do, that the Academy 
stands forth as an anomaly among the institutions 
of this country ; that it is at variance with the spirit, 
if not the letter, of the Constitution under which 
we live ; so long as this House shall deny investi- 
gation into its principles and practical operation, I, 
as an individual member, will refuse to appropriate 
the first dollar for its support. 



ELECTION TO THE TJ. 8. SENATE. 81 



CHAPTER V. 

Election to the U. S. Senate — Correspondence — Speech on the Defen- 
ces of the Country — Speech on the Armed Occupation of Florida- 
Speech on Removals from Office. 

In 1837, Mr. Pierce was elected by a large ma- 
jority of the New-Hampshire Legislature to take 
his seat in the United States Senate. He took his 
seat in that body the 4th of March, 1837, the day 
on which Mr. Yan Buren was inaugurated as Pres- 
ident. The session was an extra one, called for the 
purpose of legislating for the commercial relief of 
the then prostrate country. During the terrible 
depression of that and following years, there was a 
strong disposition on the part of Congress to stimu- 
late trade by vicious methods, and Mr. Pierce op- 
posed all such schemes. Kanged against him in 
debate often were such men as Choate, and Clay, 
and "Webster, but his speeches were of the kind 
which tell upon an audience of thinking men. He 
boldly opposed the plan of using Government funds 
as a basis for discount, and advocated, with all his 
powers, the separation of all Government monies 
from the concerns of the banks. 

During his course in the Senate, the Independent 
Treasury Bill come up for discussion, and at that 
time many of its present warmest supporters wer© 



8S LIFE OF FKANKT.IN TTEKCF. 

doubtful of the expediency of adopting it. ButMr. 
Pierce, from the very first, Bpoke and voted for it, 
and experience proves the Bagacity of his mind in 
thus discovering its excellencies before it had boon 
put into operation. 

While in the Senate, Mr. Pierce served on some 
of the most important of the Committees— on the 
Judiciary, on Military Affairs, on Pensions, etc., etc. 
He was emphatically a working member; he was 
not afraid to be called such. Indeed, his ambition 
was not to be known as a fine orator, but as a 
worker, and one who had served his constituents and 
the country at large, faithfully and with ability. 
And he won not only the reputation of being an 
orator, but the reputation oi' being a very honest 
and useful man. 

In Juno 1838, one year after his election to the 
II. S. Senate, Mr. Pierce changed his residence from 
Jus native town of Hillsborough to Concord, Ids 
present place of residence. I lis large circle of 
friends in Hillsborough could not allow the occasion 
to pass without a testimonial of their affection for 
Mr. Pierce, and consequently invited him to a public 
dinner. The following is the correspondence which 
took place in reference to it : 

Hillsborough, August 25, 1S3S. 
Hon. Franklin Piekck : 

Sir — The Democratic Republicans of Hillsbor- 
ough embrace the opportunity your short stay fur- 
nishes, to tender to you an invitation to partake 



TENDERED A PUBLIC DINNER. 83 

with tliem of a public dinner, at such time as may- 
be most convenient to you, before you take your 
leave of Hillsborough. 

In discharging the duty imposed upon them, the 
committee beg leave to assure you, that the tender 
they make is no unmeaning compliment. 

Your childhood was with them, and so has been 
your riper years. Educated in their midst, one of 
themselves, the ties that have so long bound you to 
them cannot be easily sundered ; and it would be 
doing violence to their feelings, to suffer the present 
occasion to pass without an opportunity of calling 
up those recollections that will ever be to them a 
source of the highest satisfaction. 

Tou have stood by them at all times. You have 
been to them even as a son and a brother. Their 
interests have been your interests, their feelings 
your feelings. And it is with the sincerest pleas- 
ure that they offer you this testimonial, howeve^ 
small, of the estimate they place upon your charac- 
ter, public and private. 

The committee cannot but express their regret at 
the necessity which is about to separate you from 
the republican citizens of Hillsborough. Long and 
intimately have you been known to them ; and 
wherever you may go, they beg leave to assure you 
that you will carry with you their kindest wishes 
for your welfare. 

With esteem and respect we have the honor to 
be yours, <fec. TIMOTHY WYMAN, &c. 



84 LIFE OF FRANKLIN PIERCE. 

Hillsborough, Sept. 15, 1838. 

Gentlemen : Your letter in behalf of the Demo- 
cratic Republicans of Hillsborough, inviting me to 
partake of a public dinner at such time as might 
suit my convenience, was duly received. 

Sincerely desirous of exchanging salutations with 
all my friends, before those relations which have so 
long subsisted between us should be severed, I have 
delayed giving an answer, with the hope that my 
other engagements would allow me this pleasure. 
In this expectation, I am sorry to say, I find myself 
disappointed. I have received too many substan- 
tial evidences of the kind regard and true friend- 
ship of the citizens of Hillsborough to need any 
new assurance of their partiality, and yet, I would 
not disguise the fact that your testimony in parting, 
as to the manner in which my duties in public and 
private life have been discharged, is flattering to my 
feelings, especially so, as coining from those who 
have known me longest and most intimately. 

I shall leave Hillsborough with no ordinary re- 
gret. There are a thousand reasons why it can 
not be otherwise — I have hitherto known no other 
home. 

Here may have passed away many of the hap- 
piest days and months of my life. With these 
streams and mountains are associated most of the 
delightful recollections of buoyant and happy boy- 
hood — and in my early intercourse with the gener- 
ous, independent and intelligent yeomanry of Hills- 



TENDERED A PUBLIC DINNER. 85 

borough, I became attached to, and learned how 
highly to appreciate that class of the community 
which constitutes the true nobility of this country. 
I need hardly say that I shall never cease to remem- 
ber my birth-place with pride as well as affection, 
and with still more pride shall I recollect the steady, 
unqualified and generous confidence which has been 
reposed in me by its inhabitants. With unfeigned 
regret, gentlemen, that I am unable to accept the 
invitation you have communicated in such kind and 
flattering terms, please to accej3t for yourselves 
and to communicate to my fellow-citizens, whose or- 
gans you are on this occasion, the assurance of my 
warm thanks and sincerest interest in whatever re- 
lates to their prosperity and happiness, individually 
and collectively. 

I am, gentlemen, with the highest respect, your 
friend and obedient servant, 

FBANEXIN" PIEECE. 

Timothy Wyman, Esq. 

The course of Mr. Pierce in the Senate was such 
that he won encomiums from all quarters. Said 
the Boston Post of June 19th 1849 : 

" New Hampshire has just cause of pride in her 
youthful Senator. To a grace and modesty of man- 
ner, which always attract when he addresses the 
Senate, he has added severe application to busi- 
ness, and a thorough knowledge of his subject, in 
all its relations, and henceit is, though one of the 
5 



86 LIFE OF FHA^KLIN PIERCE. 

youngest, he is one of the most influential in the 
distinguished body of which he is a member. "With- 
out seeking popularity as a debater, Mr. Pierce, in 
the quiet and untiring pursuit of public duty, and 
the conscientious discharge of private responsibility, 
has acquired a permanent reputation, which places 
him among the most useful and efficient public men 
in the country." 

Said the editor of the JSTew England Puritan, a 
religious journal : 

" Of Franklin Pierce, I cannot do otherwise than 
speak well ; for it happened to me, during a short 
term of official service in Bowdoin College, during 
the Presidency of Dr. Allen, to know him as a schol- 
ar there, and while resident in this region, to know 
him as a Senator. A very frank, gentlemanly, un- 
obtrusive man is he, strongly devoted to his politi- 
cal principles, kind and constant in his friendship, 
venerating the institutions of religion, and while 
living here attending upon the most evangelical 
preaching in the city." 

Mr. Pierce was known in the Senate as an advocate 
of an economical administration of the Government, 
a strict construction of the constitution — in fact he 
was a thorough republican of the old Jefferson 
school. 

The following speech was delivered by him in the 
TJ. S. Senate, July 14th, 1840, upon the subject of 
the National Defences : 



SPEECH ON THE DEFENCES, &C. 87 

SPEECH 

ON THE DEFENCES OF THE COUNTRY. 

Mr. Pierce, in behalf of the committee on Mili- 
tary Affairs, asked to be discharged from the further 
consideration of " the memorial of Gen. Edmund 
P. Gaines, proposing a system of national defence, 
and praying its adoption by Congress." And also 
from "the memorial of the Military Convention, 
holden at Norwich, Yermont, praying for the re- 
vision and alteration of the system of military 
defences of the United States." 

Mr. P. said the inquiry had been repeatedly 
made, " What are the views of the committee upon 
this subject?" and before the question was taken 
upon the motion just submitted, he would briefly 
respond to that interrogatory, presuming, however, 
to speak for no member but himself. 

The present session, it was well known, had for 
several reasons, not been propitious for the discus- 
sion and adoption of any improvements in the plan 
of our national defences. This had been sufficiently 
manifested by the character of the debate that took 
place some days since upon one branch of the gen- 
eral question — the re-organization and discipline of 
the militia. But, although the committee had not 
deemed it expedient at this time to present a report, 
it had been deferred from no want of a deep con- 
viction of its importance. He would rejoice if the 



88 LITE OF FRANKLIN PIEKCE. 

public mind could be effectually directed to the 
subject ; and he hoped that he might at least be able 
to call the attention of Senators to the memorials, 
which (although parts of each would doubtless be 
regarded extravagant) contained, nevertheless, prac- 
tical views and suggestions well worthy of consider- 
ation, in connection with the very important meas- 
ures of which they respectively treated — measures, 
he would take occasion to remark, that had been 
discussed with great ability in the report of a board 
of officers, communicated to the Senate by the Presi- 
dent, in April last. He hoped the subject would be 
taken up at an early day in the next session, and 
be so deliberately and definitely acted upon, as to 
give our mode and means of defense, efficiency, uni- 
formity, and the advantage of a settled system. 
We could now do it with the light of enlarged expe- 
rience, and the benefit of many experiments made 
at the expense of others. In this age of progress, 
and in this land of invention, and almost boundless 
resources, we were not the people to stand still. 
"We had not stood still. But while individual and 
private enterprise had kept pace, in all the various 
pursuits of life, with the best improvements of the 
day, it must be admitted, that considering our posi- 
tion upon the globe — the immense extent of our 
maritime frontier — the mode in which we must be 
assailed, if ever successfully assailed, by a foreign 
foe — the easy access to our most commanding har- 
bors — the vast importance and exposed condition 



SPEECH ON THE DEFENCES, &C. 89 

of our great commercial cities, especially since the 
successful application of steam power to ocean navi- 
gation — that we had been singularly regardless of 
the advances and improvements which, in other 
countries, especially in France and England, had, 
within the last few years, materially changed, and 
were now rapidly changing the character of defen- 
sive and offensive operations, both on the land and 
the sea. "We should not shut our eyes to these 
things. We should not remain unmindful of 
changes in the art and practice of war, exceeded in 
importance only by those which followed the dis- 
covery of gunpowder in the fourteenth century. 

There were some things about the military defen- 
ces of this country, which might be considered as 
settled, in relation to which there could be little if 
any difference of opinion. For instance — he re- 
garded it as certain, that no large standing army 
was ever to be maintained here in time of peace, 
while our free institutions remain unshaken. In 
this we differed entirely from those nations with 
whom, from our position and political relations, we 
were in the greatest danger of being drawn into col- 
lis ion. It was equally certain, in his judgment, 
that fiie stationary fortifications, in the best condi- 
tion, with abundance of materiel, and well manned, 
would prove wholly inadequate to the defense even 
of our large commercial cities. It must be regarded 
as not less clear, that no foreign power could ever 
embark in the Quixotic enterprise of conquering 



90 LIFE OF FEANKLIN" PIEECE. 

this country, unless its Constitution should be first 
trampled in the dust by its own children. Such a 
project could never be soberly contemplated, he 
might safely assert, while we were a united people. 
During the Revolution — in the weakness of our 
infancy — the invaders could scarcely command 
more territory than they were able immediately to 
occupy. The possession of any particular place, 
however important in itself, would be of little conse- 
quence, as bearing upon the ultimate result of a con- 
flict. We had no great metropolis like Paris, which, 
in possession of one power or another, could control 
the country. And from the nature of our institu- 
tions, and the extent of our territory, we never could 
have. The leading purposes of an enemy, there- 
fore, would be, by the celerity and boldness of his 
movements on our coast, to keep up a constant, 
alarm ; to harass and cut off our commerce ; to de- 
stroy our naval depots and public works ; and if 
possible, to lay our great commercial cities under 
contribution or in ashes. It was against prompt 
movements and vigorous exertions for objects like 
these, for which we should prepare and provide. 
Our fortresses were not to be invested and made the 
objects of long, regular siege; they were not^ fur 
reasons to which he had before adverted, of suf- 
ficient consequence in this country, whatever might 
be the case in others, possessing limited territory 
and different situation. In the nature of things this 
would not take place, and it need not be contem- 



SPEECH OX THE DEFENCES, &C. 91 



plated in their construction. France and England 
had, and always must maintain, large and well ap- 
pointed standing armies : they were the indispen- 
sable appendages of regal power and dominion, 
without which no monarch in Europe could retain 
his crown a single year. They had not only them, 
but they had the means of planting them upon our 
shores ; nay, of quartering them in the heart of our 
cities, before we could set in order our insufficient, 
and now deserted fortresses, or call into the field any 
effective force, organized as our militia at present 
was ; indeed, in some of the States there was no or- 
ganization whatever; it was wholly disbanded, and 
men whose thoughts were never elevated above the 
contemplation of loss and gain, were out in the 
newspapers w T ith their calculations to show exactly 
how many dollars and cents would be saved annu- 
ally by the " disbandment" of this safe and sure 
auxiliary in our defence. 

Sir, said Mr. P., can anything be more deplora- 
bly characteristic of the prevailing spirit and pas- 
sion of the age? 

If he was right on these points, we were not in 
a condition to warrant the folding of our arms in 
security. We were at peace, but we might be 
involved in war, we knew not how soon. This we 
did know, that the only sure way to keep it far off 
was to provide for its approach. 

He was not disposed to give color to any unneces- 
sary alarm, but he felt bound to say that the indi- 



92 LIFE OF FEA^EXES PIEECE. 

cations of a speedy and pacific termination of the 
difficulties growing out of tlie North-eastern boun- 
dary question, which, seemed to have strongly 
impressed other minds, had wholly failed to impart 
any fresh confidence to his. He feared that they 
would prove specious rather than substantial. He 
could not help feeling strongly upon this subject of 
national defences, because he had witnessed the 
lethargy in w T hich the spirit of the nation, easily 
roused to every thing else, had seemed to slumber 
here. Within the last five years war clouds had 
lowered most portentiously upon our horizon, and 
on one or two occasions seemed ready to burst, and 
scatter far and wide the calamities of that dreadful 
scourge. "What w r as the effect upon the Govern- 
ment and the country, when, upon a question of 
money, we were upon the eve of a war with one of 
the most powerful and gallant nations upon the face 
of the earth. Did we manifest a willingness to 
apply our money in preparation for the contest? 
~No. He would be ashamed to state, there in his 
place, the total want of any thing like adequate 
means of defense. In Congress there was, as usual, 
no want of patriotic demonstration in the way of 
speeches, but they w T ere followed by nothing like 
decisive action. Through the country there ap- 
peared to be a profound repose, and blind trusting 
to luck in the face of admitted imminent danger. 
In the beneficent ordination of Providence, and 
through the energy and wisdom of that very extra- 



SPEECH ON THE DEFENCES, &C. 93 

ordinaiy man, who always proved equal to great 
occasions, the impending danger was happily 
averted. How had it been more recently, when, 
for a long time, there had been a quasi war along 
our whole border, from St. Johns to the lakes ? In 
what condition did the evening of the 2nd of March, 
1839, find the country? In what state did it find 
us in our places here ? Like the nation generally — ■ 
calm and undisturbed. Senators then present would 
not soon forget the scene that followed the arrival 
of the Eastern mail that night. The stirring report 
soon passed around the chamber, " there has been 
a battle upon the Eastern frontier ; the blood of our 
citizens has been shed upon our own soil." 

A change came over the spirit of our dream. 
Every countenance was lighted up with high ex- 
citement. "We were, at last, when the strange spell 
of fancied security could no longer bind us, roused 
as from the delusion of a charm — we woke as 
from the trace of years — as from a dream we open- 
ed our eyes upon a full view of the nearness and 
magnitude of our danger. He would never forget 
the bearing on that occasion, nor the burning words 
of an honorable Senator on the other side of the 
chamber, not now in his place. That Senator seem- 
ed to feel that by our culpable neglect to provide 
the means of defence, we had almost invited ag- 
gression, and that we ought ourselves to take our 
places in the fiercest of the eddying storm, which it 
was then supposed had already burst upon our bor- 
5* 



94: LITE OF FRANKLIN PIERCE. 

der brethren. Every word, as he then understood, 
he believed was heartily responded to. What was 
done ? All that could be, under the circumstances 
in which we were placed. The Constitutional term 
of one branch of Congress had but a few more hours 
to run. There was but a little time for deliberation, 
but we showed -that there was one contingency in 
which we could merge every thing like party, and 
present an unbroken front. We passed a bill, pla- 
cing at the disposal of the President, the whole mi- 
litia of the United States, to be compelled to serve 
for a term not exceeding six months — to raise 
5q,000 volunteers — " to equip, man, and employ in 
active service, all the naval force of the United States 
— and to build, purchase, or charter, arm, equip and 
man, such vessels and steamboats on the northern 
lakes and rivers, whose waters communicate with 
the United States and Great Britain, as he shall 
deem necessary." This fearful responsibility was 
cast upon one individual. This vast command, with 
ten millions of dollars, to make it effectual, was 
committed to the sole discretion and patriotism of 
the President. No man, who loved his country, 
could but deprecate the necessity of placing such 
tremendous and fearful powers in the hands of one 
man, however wise and disinterested. 

He warned the people against such another crisis. 
Sooner or later, it would come, and perhaps unat- 
tended by that good fortune which had borne us 
thus far on in peace. At all events, it was the most 



SPEECH ON THE DEFENCES, &C. 95 

fatal temerity to depend upon it, and neglect the 
necessary preparation. What should be done? 
Where lies the most obvious, the most unquestion- 
able, and cheapest means of defence to the coun- 
try ? These are questions to which the memorial- 
ists undertook respectively to respond. He did not, 
of course, propose at this time particularly to ex- 
amine the report of the board of officers, to which 
he had before adverted, but he would take the lib- 
erty to remark, that the positions assumed were 
much more questionable than the ability with which 
they were discussed and defended. There was at 
least one point of agreement between the memori- 
alists, and one in which he thought both were right. 
It was as to the entire insufficiency of land or sta- 
tionary defences to protect our harbors, and secure 
the approaches to them. That this had been fully 
illustrated in more than one instance, even when 
wind and sails had been relied upon, he might 
safely assert, without intendiug to discuss the rela- 
tive power of floating and stationary batteries. 
How much less the security now, with the general 
and free application of the propelling power of 
steam, it required no particular science, or military 
knowledge to judge. He referred particularly to 
the passing of the castle of Crohenburgh, and the 
successful attack of Lord Nelson upon Copenhagen 
in 1801, to the attack upon Gibraltar by the French 
and Spanish in 1782, and the assault upon Vera 
Cruz, and the reduction of the strong castle of San 



98 LIFE OF FEANKLEtf PIERCE. 

Juan de Ulloa, a year agojast November, all of which 
had been cited on both sides in the controversy be- 
tween floating and stationary defences. Gentlemen 
would be more safe in reading the official and au- 
thentic accounts, and drawing their own conclusions, 
than in trusting to the statements of the supporters of 
the one system or the other. Mr. P. said he would 
by no means dispense with the stationary fortifica- 
tions, upon which he had so much relied ; in many 
positions they were indispensable, but, in his judg- 
ment, the system, with us, had already been carried 
too far in respect to the number of works, and in 
some instances, as to the vast expense incurred upon 
individual works. Our country was too broad — 
too immense in its sweep, to rely upon such works. 
]STo man would be so visionary as to indulge the 
chimerical scheme of making a sea coast of more 
than 3,000 miles impervious to attack. There were 
not only a great number of harbors and road-steads 
along the coast that could not be thus defended, but 
almost innumerable indentations, affording safe an- 
chorage, from which a superior naval force might 
land any number of troops, notwithstanding the 
entire completion of the most extensive plan of sta- 
tionary fortifications ever yet dreamed of. They 
could not be compelled to land under the guns of a 
battery, or to place themselves within its range. 
Unless they should be met successfully upon their 
chosen element, they would take their own time, 
and pretty much their own place, to disembark. 



SPEECH ON THE DEFENCE9, <feC. 97 



The contest then would be in the open field, between 
our armies and theirs — generally between the stead- 
iness and thorough discipline of their veteran, but 
mercenary regiments upon a foreign soil ; and the 
valor and desperate energy of ours, fighting, it might 
be, within sight of their own homes. 

That we were now sadly deficient in the means of 
defence, was a fact admitted bv all. In that con- 
dition we ought not to remain. We should provide 
our harbors, that hold out the greatest temptation 
to an invading foe, in addition to the stationary for- 
tifications, with the best floating defences known to 
the world. We should make, as soon as it can be 
done consistently with other demands upon the reve- 
nue, our navy equal at least to one-sixth of that of 
Great Britain. We should never go for conquest. 

We had, in territory, in climate, and resources, 
all that any people should desire, and the armament 
alluded to was believed to be as large a proportion 
as England would ever be able to spare from other 
points, and detach to our seas. Consistently with 
the demands upon the revenue ! He would not say 
that. He held that, with the wealth and great re- 
sources of the country, we should make our reve- 
nue equal to this demand. Want of funds should 
hereafter be regarded as no good excuse for neglect- 
ing defences, universally admitted to be indispensa- 
ble for the honor and safety of our country. If the 
current revenue was not sufficient for these and oth- 
er objects of like magnitude and necessity, let arti- 



93 LIFE OF FEANKLIN PIERCE. 

cles of luxury and ornament, such as wines and 
silks, which are annually imported and consumed 
in the country, be taxed to raise the means. The 
navy of Great Britain consists at present of five 
hundred and fifteen ships and twenty-three steam- 
ers, and mounted more than twenty-two thousand 
guns ; France, two hundred and thirty ships ; Amer- 
ica, fifty-two in all, and thirty-eight effective, moun- 
ting only three thousand guns. Now the least with 
which we should be satisfied in our naval armament, 
was an increase at the lowest of fifty per cent. In 
the mean time, we should provide for an organiza- 
tion of the militia, to be efficient and uniform 
throughout the United States. 

Thus prepared, with our large cities in a suitable 
state of defence, and with six hundred thousand 
disciplined citizen soldiers, so enrolled and organ- 
ized as to admit of being promptly mustered and 
called into the field, we should be ready for that 
which, under such circumstances, would hardly be 
pressed upon us. 

He would not be understood as admitting, for a 
moment, that he would not, even unprepared as we 
now were, expel in a little time any invader that 
should venture to set foot upon our soil. He enter- 
tained not a doubt of it, because the same spirit 
that in 1793 prompted the celebrated decree of the 
French convention, which proclaimed that — ■ 

" From the present moment, till that when all the 
enemies shall have been driven from the territory of 



SPEECH ON THE DEFENCES, &C. 99 

the Republic, all Frenchmen shall be in permanent 
readiness for the service of the armies ; the young 
men shall march to the contest ; the married men 
forge arms and transport the provisions ; the women 
shall make tents and clothes, and wait in the hospi- 
tals ; the children shall make lint of old linen ; the 
old men shall cause themselves to be carried to the 
public squares to excite the courage of the warriors, 
and preach hatred against the enemies of the Re- 
public ; the battalions, which shall be organized in 
every district shall be ranged under a banner with 
this inscription : ' The French nation risen against 
tyrants.' " 

The spirit which rendered that people invincible, 
and crowned their arms with such a succession of 
splendid victories over the veteran troops of the 
ollied powers, as astounded the civilized world would 
animate our Countrymen from one extremity of the 
Union to the other; but let every man consider 
what dreadful sacrifices must precede the final re- 
sult, if war come upon us in our present defenceless 
state. While our citizens were taking their places 
under the fold of the banner which the Republic 
would throw over them — a slow process at least for 
want of organization — our gallant little army, to 
which the country looked with pride and confidence, 
would be sacrificed ; the blood of our most valuable 
citizens would perhaps stain the pavements of their 
own streets ; and more property be destroyed in one 
commercial city than would now defray the entire 



100 LIFE OF FRANKLIN PIEECE. 

exjDenses of prfeect protection and security. This, 
Mr. P. said, was what might happen ; and was that 
against which moderate patriotism and ordinary 
prudence should provide. He urged the hope that 
when this storm of politics should have passed away, 
the Senate would take the subject up in the spirit 
and with the enlarged views of statesmen, acting 
for the common interest of their common country. 



The following sjDeech was delivered by Mr. Pierce 
in the Senate, Jan. 9th, 1840. 

SPEECH 

ON THE AEMED OCCUPATION OF FLORIDA. 

Mr. Pierce said : Having determined to support 
this bill, not without some hesitation, it was my in- 
tention, after the full and minute exposition made 
by the Chairman of the Committee on Military Af- 
fairs, (Mr. Benton,) to give a silent vote ; and I 
should have done so but for the extraordinary course 
of argument pursued on the other side, and the 
sweeping denunciations of the Executive, in which 
gentlemen have chosen to indulge — denunciations 
which I cannot but regard as wholly unwarranted 
and unjust. If Senators will withdraw their thoughts 
from these general charges of a want of zeal, fore- 
cast, and energy on the part of the Executive — lay 
aside all prejudices which such charges may be cal- 



SPEECH ON THE FLORIDA WAR. 101 

dilated to engender — and consider, for a moment, 
the nature of the territory in which our troops have 
operated, and must continue to operate — the char- 
acter of the foe — our present means, and the condi- 
tion of that country — they will be more likely to 
do justice to the distinguished individual now at 
the head of the War Department, whose conduct 
in relation to the operations on that ill-fated penin- 
sula, I have, during this debate, heard censured 
for the first time, and much more likely to adopt 
those legislative measures, which the exigencies of 
the case, with a full view of all the difficulties and 
embarrassments with which it is surrounded, may 
require. There is much truth in the remark of Gen. 
St. Clair, in the introduction to the history of his 
own disastrous Indian campaign. He says : "In 
military affairs, blame is almost always attached to 
misfortune ; for the greatest part of those who judge, 
(and all will judge,) have no rule to guide them but 
the event." Now, sir, in this country, there has 
never been a case where the event of military opera- 
tions was so much calculated to lead the mind to 
erroneous, unjust, and uncharitable conclusions, as 
those which we are now considering. That the 
Florida war has, in all its aspects, been most disas- 
trous and melancholy, many of us feel — all are 
ready to admit. The blood of our patriotic citizens 
has been poured out there like water, the lives of 
many of pur most able officers and faithful soldiers 
have been sacrificed, and the resources of the nation 



102 LIFE OF FKANKXIN PIEECE. 

have "been drained in a hitherto fruitless attempt to 
remove cruel, artful, and treacherous bands of sav- 
ages, whom no treaty obligations can bind, and 
whose tender mercies are manifested in the delib- 
erate and indiscriminate murder of helpless infants 
and defenceless mothers. Now that portions of our 
army, varying from four to ten thousand men, 
should have been, during the last five years, within 
our own territory, in a conflict with remnants of 
savage tribes, not embracing at any time, it is be- 
lieved, more than twelve or fifteen hundred war- 
riors ; and that, with the exception of the roads and 
improvements which have been made, the geopraph- 
ical knowledge that has been acquired, and the ex- 
perience gained, which, I trust, we shall not be 
disposed to disregard, we are in a condition barely 
better than that which called our troops there in the 
first instance, is certainly very extraordinary upon 
the face of it; and yet, if gentlemen, here and else- 
where, will carefully examine this map, make 
themselves acquainted with the topography of the 
country, and notice the fact that, below a line drawn 
from Tampa Eay to a point near New Smyrna, 
nothing was known to any white man of this im- 
mense territory ; that it was wholly unexplored 
except by the savage, who was familiar with all its 
recesses and fastnesses ; that in almost every direc- 
tion it was impassable for troops, and especially for 
baggage trains ; that for long distances together a 
column could not advance, without constructing cor- 



SPEECH ON" THE FLORIDA WAR. 103 

duroy roads ; that, in consequence of the deadly 
climate, the active campaigns could only be contin- 
ued from October to April ; that the foe would show 
himself but at places where he could not be reached, 
except at the greatest disadvantage ; and that his 
force has always been divided and scattered over 
this extent of 45,000 square miles, their wonder at 
this want of success will cease. They will see that 
it has arisen from natural causes, from causes which 
no human sagacity could foresee, turn aside, or 
overcome. 

The Senators on the other side, I have been 
pleased to notice, have done justice to the officers 
and soldiers who have served in those campaigns. 
Never was commendation better merited. Never 
were men sent into such a deadly climate upon such 
disheartening, thankless service. There is, and has 
been, nothing to stimulate individual ambition, and 
the dangers of the climate alone have equaled all 
the dangers of active campaigns under ordinary 
circumstances. Still, the spirit of our countrymen 
has not been wanting even there. A single instance 
of shrinking from duty or from danger; a single 
instance where the light has not been sought when 
there was a prospect of bringing on an engagement ; 
n single instance, in a wurd, where a -soldier's duty 
has not been pei brined in a manner becoming a sol- 
dier of the Republic, has not come to my know- 
ledge. No, sir. Surrounded by disadvantages, and 
environed by circumstances chilling to military ar- 



104 LIFE OF FRANKLIN PIERCE. 

dor, there has been on all occasions, an exhibition 
of bravery, of cool, determined courage, and patient 
endurance, not surpassed in the history of any war- 
fare. Here, at least, we concur in ascribing no 
fault, in passing no censure. 

It would have been gratifying to me, if Senators 
could have regarded the conduct of the Secretary 
of War in a similar spirit, because, to any generous 
mind, it is painful to be forced upon subjects of 
censure ; and in this instance, I believe the founda- 
tions of the charges to be entirely imaginary. If 
the Secretary is to be held accountable for the dis- 
asters of that war, it is important to him and to the 
country, that these denunciations assume a form 
somewhat more specific ; that the charges be made 
so definite as to admit of a definite answer. Now, 
sir, I call upon the Senators from South Carolina 
and Kentucky, (Messrs. Preston and Crittenden,) to 
inform us where they find the evidence of the Sec- 
retary's impotence and want of energy ; where and 
on what particular occasions it has been manifested. 
From the date of his first official letter to General 
Jessup, in March, 1837, to the present time, do gen- 
tlemen find any thing to censure in the instructions 
given to the different commanding officers in Flor- 
ida ? If so, what instructions ? Do they object to 
the suggestions of the Secretary in his various re- 
ports, except that in relation to the measures now 
under consideration ? If so, let them be indicated. 
"\Ve shall then have something to direct our inqui- 



SPEECH ON THE FLORIDA WAR. 105 

fries, some thing upon which the judgment can rest. 
But now we can only meet these general charges 
by as broad and general denials, and support such 
denials by calling the attention of the Senate to 
what the Secretary has done. To this, without 
reading copious extracts from the documents on 
your files, I shall briefly advert. 

Soon after he entered upon the duties of his office, 
he received from Gen. Jessup intelligence that the 
war in Florida was over, unless renewed by the im- 
prudence of the inhabitants. This hope proved like 
similar hopes previously indulged — illusory. In 
the August following, propositions were again made 
by several of the chiefs for peace ; but the Secre- 
tary, as the correspondence and public documents 
abundantly show, was not turned aside for a mo- 
ment from his purpose of terminating the war in 
the campaign of 1837-38, if a strong force, abun- 
dant supplies, munitions promptly furnished, and 
all the facilities for prosecuting the campaign with 
vigor and effect, could accomplish the object. As 
early as September, arrangements had been made 
for six hundred volunteers from Tennessee, six hun- 
dred from Louisiana, six hundred from Missouri, 
with three hundred riflemen, spies, and an Indian 
force, to co-operate with the Florida militia, and 
the strong regular corps of artillery, infantry, and 
dragoons, already at the disposal of the command- 
ing General. 

Although the Secretary had always manifested 



106 LIFE OF FRANKLIN PIEKCE. 

the strongest desire to spare the further effusion of 
blood, and to save that deluded, faithless and cruel 
people from extermination, he still declared, from 
the first, that his only hope was in an active and 
vigorous prosecution of the war. When the Chero- 
kee delegation went to Florida, with the avowed 
purpose of persuading the Seminoles to the treaty 
terms, General Jessup was expressly advised that 
the mission was not to delay for a moment military 
operations. There was, on the part of the Secre- 
tary, no procrastination, no delay. Munitions of 
war were transmitted in season ; supplies were 
forwarded in abundance, and the troops were in the 
field, ready for active operations, at the time pro- 
posed. General Jessup was at the head of about 
ten thousand men, and his force was certainly suf- 
ficiently diversified in character. There were regu- 
lars and militia, artillery, infantry, dragoons, ma- 
rines, and riflemen, spies, and Indians ; and with 
this strong, and as was at that time supposed, well- 
appointed force, the General commenced his cam- 
paign, to the event of which the country looked with 
hope and confidence. He attempted, as the Sena- 
tor from South Carolina would express it, to drag 
the territory as with a net ; and with what success ? 
Our hopes withered, and our hearts sickened at the 
result. The commanding General, I believe, put 
forth all his energies, and his troops furnished to 
him no ground of complaint ; but he shared the fate 
of his predecessors. The foe was neither caught, 



SPEECH ON THE FLORIDA "WAR. 107 

conquered, nor killed. I institute no comparisons 
between the different Generals who have commanded 
in Florida. They have been alike triumphant when- 
ever they have met the foe, and alike unsuccessful 
in expelling him from the country. These failures 
are, and will continue to be, attributed to different 
causes. I find the paramount obstacles in the cli- 
mate, the nature of the country and the character 
of the enemy ; and my belief is that unless you 
make Florida passable in every direction, and can 
march a column extending from the gulf on the one 
side, to the ocean on the other, this process of sweep- 
ing the Territory, as with a net, must prove fruit- 
less. It is a very easy thing to discourse here of 
sweeping a country, embracing forty-five thousand 
square miles, situated in the tropical regions, with 
a climate genial to the savage, but deadly to the 
white man — portions of it, still unexplored, abound- 
ing in provisions suited to the habits of the Indian, 
and furnishing secure retreats, known and accessi- 
ble to him alone — but to do it is an impossibility, 
Experience proves it to be so; it has been tried 
again and again, with regular troops, and militia, 
with infantry, with mounted men, with Indians, and 
with one uniform result. Twenty thousand men, 
for such a purpose, in the then state of the Terri- 
tory, would have been no more effectual than five 
hundred. But gentlemen will perceive, by glanc- 
ing at the face of the country, as delineated on this 
map, that although all has not been accomplished, 



10S LIFE OF FRANKLIN PIERCE. 

much has been done to make the provisions of the i 
bill under consideration operative and effectual. 
You will observe that our troops, at different times, 
under the different Generals, in various columns 
and in almost every direction, have marched the 
entire length of the peninsula, from Okeefenokee 
Swamp to the Big-water, at the head of the Ever- 
glades ; but while they were passing down, the In- 
dian was stealthily threading his way up; and 
while they were beating up the marshes, and search- 
ing for his trail in the region of Kissimmee river, 
murder and rapine announced his presence in the 
fertile and settled Alachua country. At the close 
of 1838, such had been the results. The Secretary 
of War had tested the inefficiency of mounted 
men— they could not operate in that country; the 
enormous expense of the militia had been abun- 
dantly demonstrated, and the total failure of the 
whole was painfully obvious. Under these circum- 
stances, what were the duties of the head of the De- 
partment ? This is a question which I shall answer 
only by stating, further, what was his action, and 
leave the country to judge of its propriety. When 
Gen. Jessup was permitted to return to his appro- 
priate staff duties in this city, all the troops which 
could be spared from our exposed and unsettled 
frontiers in other quarters, were left in the Territory 
under the command of that vigilant, energetic, and 
able officer, General Taylor. 
In prosecuting any campaign, it is well known' 



SPEECH ON THE FLORIDA WAR. 109 

that much must, of necessity, be left to the judg- 
ment and military genius of the commander, to be 
exercised on the spot. In October, 1838, the Secre- 
tary gave Gen. Taylor general instructions as to the 
manner in which the succeeding campaign should 
be conducted. In those instructions the protection 
of Middle Florida against the incursions of the 
Seminoles was made the first object. To attain this, 
the establishment of an interior and exterior line of 
posts, to extend across the peninsula, from the Gulf 
to the Ocean, was recommended. These and va- 
rious other surest ions contained in the letter of the 
Secretary, of October Sth, 1838, formed the basis 
of Gen. Taylor's instructions for that campaign. 
Unfortunately, the great and first objee* of the Sec- 
retary was not secured, and the p^posure encoun- 
tered, and the immense lab^' performed by the 
columns of the army, under ^ne direction of Gen. Tay- 
lor and Col. Davenporf, were crowned with no bet- 
ter success than tiat which had attended similar 
attempts before- In the mean time the wisdom of 
Congress interposed. Military operations were sus- 
pended, and negotiations substituted in their place ; 
not upon any suggestions of the Secretary, be it re- 
membered, but against his known and expressed 
opinions. The result of the negotiation is written 
in blood. The obligations of the treaty were not re- 
garded for a moment ; they were not intended to be 
observed on the part of the Indians at the time of 
its' execution, as is proved by the burnings, robbe- 
6 



110 LITE OF FRASTKLm PIERCE. 

Ties, and murders that immediately followed — some 
of them within four miles of one of the oldest, if 
not the oldest town within the limits of the United 
States. 

" Such is the very brief and imperfect outline of 
what the Secretary of War has done, and for his 
full, complete and triumphant vindication against the 
general charges preferred I refer to the public docu- 
ments and correspondence upon your files, embracing 
the details of the history to which I have thus cursorily 
adverted. The eye of the Secretary could not be 
expected to reach where it is not given to mortal 
vision to penetrate. lie could not be expected to 
accomplish that which it is not given to man to 
achieve. I believe, with all the difficulties of the 
case, he has inade the best of the means in his pow- 
er. In considering the measure now proposed, it is 
material to remembei not only the failure of the 
large armies, with the immense expense incurred, 
and the disastrous terminations f every attempt at 
negotiation, but also to bear in mind the very im- 
portant fact, that there is no war in the Territory 
and has been none for a long time, in the proper ac- 
ceptation of the term. There has been no fighting 
for more than two years. The Indian force now re- 
maining does not probably exceed from three to five 
hundred men, scattered in small bands over this 
extended area. That they should be expelled as 
soon as practicable, by all reasonable means, is uni- 
versally conceded ; but the Secretary who would 



SPEECH ON THE FLOKIDA WAK. Ill 

sanction a recommendation to saddle this country 
with the expenses of an army of twenty, fifteen, or 
ten thousand men, as has been suggested, to hunt 
these three hundred savages, would not only find little 
support for his recommendation here, but less be- 
fore the people, who are wisely and justly jealous 
of large standing armies. To expel the last ves- 
tige of these banditti, and to give peace and securi- 
ty to the whole of that peninsula, must be the 
work of time. 

In the meanwhile, the settler in his home, and 
the shipwrecked mariner upon the coast, must find 
protection in our arms, and feel that there is secu- 
rity from Indian barbarity. To attain these objects, 
the instructions already given for the disposition 
and employment of the force now there, and the 
legislative measures we are considering, are well 
adapted, and, in my judgment, sanctioned by sound 
policy, drawn from past experience and present 
knowledge. Troops are now stationed along the 
Atlantic coast for the protection of commerce at 
New-Smyrna, St. Lucie's Sound, at Jupiter Inlet, 
and other convenient and commanding points. Pro- 
tection, too, is afforded on the Gulf. By the exer- 
tions of General Taylor's force, now actively em- 
ployed, as I notice by a letter of the 11th ult., the 
settled portions of the Territory will soon be reliev- 
ed from every individual of this murderous race. 
What more, then, is proposed to be done ? For the 
protection of the coast, as we have seen, provision 



112 LIFE OF FRANKLIN PIERCE. 

has already been made. That the settler may cul- 
tivate his fields by day, and repose in peace with 
his family at night, a cordon of posts, at short dis- 
tances from each other, is to be established from the 
month of the Withlacoochee, by Fort King, to a 
point near New-Smyrna, connected by good roads, 
when necessary, and the intermediate spaces guard- 
e L by constant patrols. In addition to this, the 
Secretary, in his report, asks that the Executive may 
be empowered to raise one thousand men, who are 
to be armed, drilled, and equipped, ExjDressly for 
this service, and to serve during the war. Judging 
from the spirit of liberality recently manifested on 
the other side, I anticipate no objection to this rec- 
ommendation. With the regular army stationed on 
the coast, and at the cordon of posts before indica- 
ted, such a body of men can hardly fail to prove in 
the highest degree serviceable in their active ope- 
rations between Fort King and Cape Sable. They 
will, undoubtedly, in conjunction with such regular 
troops as can be spared from the posts, be able to 
keep some of the small bands of marauders in con- 
stant motion, and so to harass them, by pursuing 
their trails, and disturbing them in their places of 
retreat, as to make emigration, which they so much 
dread, preferable to such a life. The Indians will 
soon learn that, while they are effectually shut out 
from the coasts and the white settlements, this is a 
force which is to be permanent — to remain there as 
long as they remain, and to be constant! v in motion, 



SPEECH ON THE FLOKEDA WAR. 113 

To cany out, to a certain extent, Gen. Taylor's idea 
of " covering the whole country," this bill proposes 
ten thousand armed settlers instead of the armed 
force of mere soldiers, which has been tried and 
failed. As was intimated at the opening of my 
remarks, I cannot indulge the sanguine hoj)es with 
which some of the most ardent friends of the bill 
seem to be inspired; but there are, undeniably, 
many strong considerations by which it is recom- 
mended. The expulsion of the savage must, at best, 
be the work of time. The establishment of ten 
thousand hardy settlers, considering the geographi- 
cal position of the peninsula, and its vast import- 
ance in any future war to all the southern country, 
as a point of attack and defence, would, in itself, 
be an object richly worth the 3,200,000 acres of 
land provided for the whole number, should so many 
settlers be obtained. The bill is well guarded, both 
for the Government and the settler. An important 
provision is, that the pay is to depend upon the 
success of the project. The bounty is not to be 
granted until the work is performed. 

Xow, sir, I take our own experience in this war 
as my guide. It is idle to go abroad for illustra- 
tions to enforce our peculiar views. The Senator 
from South Carolina, (Mr. Preston,) to show what 
may be done wth a competent force in Florida, call- 
ed the attention of the Senate to the expulsion of 
the formidable banditti from Italy by the energetic 
measures of Kapoleon ; but the gentleman should 



114 LIFE OF FRANKLIN PIERCE. 

recollect that the arms of the conqueror, which 
could easily and effectually beat up the narrow 
Pontine marshes, could have done nothing in theun- 
exj)lored, impenetrable hammocks and deep moras- 
ses of our broad peninsula. I might ask the Sena- 
tor what was the success of the French arms in their 
own district, La Yendee ? Were they equally tri- 
umphant there? No, sir. Notwithstanding that 
peculiar country of yet more peculiar people pre- 
sented a most terrible and sanguinary theatre of 
war, literally covered with fire and blood, they 
rose, as it were, from every conquered field, with 
new energy and fresh power of resistance ; and al- 
though, in December, 1793, the Yendeans were 
apparently left to perish in a body between Savenai, 
the Loire, and the marshes, by the bayonets of the 
French soldiers, the war was not terminated, but 
broke out afresh in the following spring. It became 
merely a war of devastation. The whole insurgent 
country was enclosed by the camps of the Repub- 
lican armies, under the command of General Tur- 
reau, from which incendiary columns were sent forth 
to burn the woods, the hedges, the copses, and fre- 
quently the villages themselves ; they seized the 
crops, and drove away the cattle. And yet we are 
informed that the Yendeans resisted this kind of 
warfare in a manner to render it everlasting. Now, 
sir, where was the secret spring of power on the 
part of these people, to resist this vastly superior 
numerical force ? It was in the country, in its con- 



SPEECH ON THE FLORIDA WAE. 115 

figuration, and in their skill and courage to profit 
by it. 

Look at the interesting country of Circassia, the 
fervid patriotism and wild gallantry of whose peo- 
ple are now attracting the attention and wonder of 
the world. It presents at this moment the aston- 
ishing spectacle of a free population which has pre- 
served its independence and its individuality in an 
almost barbarous state, though surrounded by more 
civilized nations. 

Kussia has exerted its enormous military power 
to reduce these tribes, inhabiting the borders of the 
Black Sea, and the strong defiles and fastnesses of the 
Caucasian mountains, without ever gaining any con- 
siderable advantage. The war upon the Circassians, 
cannot have been sustained by the Russian Govern- 
ment -at an expense of less than from five to ten thou- 
sand men annually since 1805 ; and yet they not only 
defy the Russian power, but, if recent reports are 
true, are signally victorious over the Russian armies. 
Sir, to what do you attribute the success of the 
wild people upon this isthmus in maintaining their 
independence ? Not, surely, to their means of war- 
fare, nor yet to their numbers, but undoubtedly to 
the singular topography of the country, and the 
daring bravery and indomitable fortitude of its hardy 
and fierce population. I make these references in re- 
ply to the Senator from South Carolina, remarking 
at the same time, that I place no reliance whatever 
upon the historical authorities, introduced in the 



116 LIFE OF FRANKLIN - PIERCE. 

course of this debate, either for or against this bill. 
The cases are not parallel. If you Yv T ill determine 
what a given military force can accomplish, you 
must take into the calculation the circumstances bv 
which they are to be surrounded, and the obstacles 
they are to encounter, the topography of the coun- 
try in which they are to operate, its climate and 
productions, and the character of the enemy to be 
subdued. In all these particulars Florida stands by 
itself, and a large force having proved unavailing, 
I am disposed to try a smaller one, to be raised ex- 
pressly for this service, and the armed settlers. 



SPEECH 

ON REMOVALS FROM OFFICE. 

We give below a few extracts from an able speech 
delivered in the IT. S. Senate in 1842, by Gen. Pierce, 
on the question of Removals from Office, immedi- 
ately after the inauguration of Gen. Harrison : 

" Democratic administrations have turned out 
some — many if you please — political opponents, to 
give place to political friends, and on the single 
ground that they had the right to prefer their friends 
to their opponents. But on this point let me ob- 
serve, that no man can say, from his individual 
knowledge, how it is over the whole country ; but 
here we can know, and here we do know, the fact 
that a majority of the subordinate officers in the 



SPEECH OX REMOVALS FROM OFFICE. 117 

Executive departments have, during the last twelve 
years, been opposed to General Jackson's and Mr. 
Yan Buren's administration. 

" They were faithful and competent officers, I be- 
lieve ; at all events they were not reached by the 
spirit of proscription. Where, for the last twelve 
years, your political friends have enjoyed a major- 
ity of the places, how have our friends been treated 
now that the tables are turned ? They have not 
escaped your sharper and broader axe, wielded 
against your open and universal professions. 

" But whatever was done by the late administra- 
tions was not done under false pretences. We put 
forth no canting hypocritical circulars ; we stood be- 
fore the nation and the world on the naked unqual- 
ified ground that we preferred our friends to our 
opponents ; that to confer place was our privilege 
which we chose to exercise. I ought not to say we 
chose, sir; for I will say — what those friends best 
acquainted with me know — that there was nothing 
in the administration of General Jackson which I 
so uniformly failed to justify, as the removal of one 
worthy officer to give place to another. 

" But that removals have occurred is not the 
thing of which I complain. I complain of your 
hypocrisy. I charge that your press and your lead- 
ing orators made promises to the nation which they 
did not intend to redeem, and which they now vainly 
attempt to cover up by cobwebs. The Senator from 
South Carolina, near me, (Mr. Calhoun) remarked 
6* 



118 LIFE OF FEANKXIK PIERCE. 

yesterday, that lie had no language to express the 
infamy which, in his judgment, must attach to that 
man who had been before the people raising his 
voice in the general shout that proscription was to 
be proscribed, and was, in the face of such action, 
now here begging for place at the footstool of power. 
If my heart ever responded fully, unqualifiedly, to 
any sentiment, it was to that. Fortunately, before 
the keen scrutiny of our countrymen, disguises are 
vain, masks unavailing. The practice of the pres- 
ent administration has already fixed upon its profes- 
sions one of two things — 'the stamp either of truth 
or falsehood ; the people will judge which. 

" One word more and I leave this subject' — a 
painful one for me, from the beginning to the end. 
The Senator from North Carolina, in the course of 
his remarks the other day, asked, ' Do gentlemen 
expect that their friends are to be retained in office 
against the will of the nation 1 Are they so unrea- 
sonable as to expect what the circumstances and 
the necessity of the case forbid ? "What our expec- 
tations were, is not the question now; but what 
were your pledges and promises before the people. 
On a previous occasion, the distinguished Senator 
from Kentucky (Mr. Clay) made a similar remark : 
' An ungracious task, but the nation demands it.' 
Sir, this demand of the nation ■ — -this plea of ' state 
necessity ',' let me tell gentlemen, is as old as the his- 
tory of wrong and oppression. It has been the 
standing plea — the never-failing resort of despotism. 



SPEECH ON REMOVALS FKOM OFFICE. 119 

" The great Julius found it convenient, when ho 
/ restored the dignity of the Eoman Senate, but de- 
( stroyed its independence. It gave countenance to, 
and justified, all the atrocities of the Inquisition in 
Spain. It gave utterance to the stifled groans from 
the black hole of Calcutta. It was written in tears 
upon c the Bridge of Sighs' in Yenice ; and pointed 
to those dark recesses, upon whose gloomy portals 
there was never seen a returning footstep. 

" It was the plea of the austere and ambitious 
Strafford, in the days of Charles the First. It filled 
the Bastile of France, and lent its sanction to the 
terrible atrocities perpetrated there. It was the 
plea that snatched the mild, eloquent, and patriotic 
Camile Desmoulins from his young and beautiful 
wife, and hurried him upon the hurdle to the guillo- 
tine, with thousands of others equally unoffending 
and innocent. It was upon this plea that the great- 
est of generals, if not of men — you cannot mistake 
me — I mean him, the presence of whose very ashes 
within the last few months was sufficient to stir the 
hearts of a continent — it was upon this plea that he 
abjured that noble wife, who threw around his hum- 
ble days light and gladness, and by her own lofty 
energies and high intellect encouraged his aspira- 
tions. It was upon this plea that he committed that 
worst and most fatal act of his eventful life. Upon 
this, too, he drew around his person the imperial 
purple. It has in all times, and in every age, been 



120 LIFE OF FRANKLIN PIERCE. 

the foe of liberty, and the indispensable stay of 
•usurpation. 

" "Where were the chains of despotism ever thrown 
around the freedom of speech and of the press, but 
on this plea of 'State necessity V Let the spirit of 
Charles the Tenth and of his ministers answer. 

" It is cold, selfish, heartless ; and has always 
been regardless of age, sex, condition, services, or 
any of the incidents of life that appeal to patriotism 
or humanity. 

" Wherever its authority has been acknowledged, 
it has assailed men who stood by their country 
when she needed strong arms and bold hearts ; and 
has assailed them when, maimed and disabled in 
her service, they could no longer brandish a weapon 
in her defence. 

" It has afflicted the feeble and dependent wife 
for the imaginary faults of her husband. 

" It has stricken down innocence in its beauty, 
youth in its freshness, manhood in its vigor, and old 
age in its feebleness and decrepitude. Whatever 
other plea of apology may be set up for the sweep- 
ing, ruthless exercise of this civil guillotine at the 
present day — in the name of Liberty, let us be 
spared this fearful one of ' state necessity' in this 
early age of the republic, upon the floor of the 
American Senate, in the face of a people yet free." 



HI8 CONGRESSIONAL CAREER. 121 



CHAPTER VI. 

His Congressional Career — Subject of Slavery — Resigns his Seat-— 
Again appointed to the Senate, but will not accept — Correspondence 
— Offered a seat in the Cabinet of Mr. Polk. 

"We have now given to the reader some of the 
most important of General Pierce's congressional 
speeches. They are all, it will be evident, at once 
of an eminently practical nature. They were not de- 
livered upon subjects calculated to elicit enthusias- 
tic eloquence, but upon vital questions of political 
economy — upon questions which deeply concerned 
the well-being of the nation. Upon such questions 
Mr. Pierce in Congress adopted a style of sj>eech 
at once striking and simple. That he is the master 
of remarkable eloquence no man will deny who has 
ever heard him in one of his best efforts at the bar. 
But he preferred a working life and a plain, unvar- 
nished style. His speeches resemble closely those of 
Cobden and Peel and Kussell, and many others of 
England's most renowned parliamentery debaters. 
There is none of the clap-trap of popular eloquence, 
but clear convincing logic, which carries conviction 
straight to the heart. He was not noted in the 
House or Senate for speech-making, for he scarcely 
ever took part in debate ; but his votes are on every 
page of the Congressional journals. We might pro- 



122 LIFE OF FRANKLIN PIERCE. 

ceed to give his votes upon the important questions 
which were before Congress during his participation 
in its proceedings, but it is hardly necessary to do 
so, as he always voted strictly with the Democratic 
party. He was a Democrat of the Jefferson stamp, 
• — clear-sighted, warm-hearted, and with strong sym- 
pathies for popular rights, and his votes were in ac- 
cordance with his principles. 

Upon the embarrassing question of slavery, he 
pursued a straight-forward course. He voted to 
sustain the right of petition, when that simple ques- 
tion of right was presented in 1837, but he was 
invaribly opposed to all agitation upon the sub- 
ject and gave his votes to that end. In May, 1836, 
Mr. Pinckney, from a select committee on the sub- 
ject — .Mr. Pierce being a member of said Commit- 
tee — made a report concerning the disposition of 
all memorials in regard to negro slavery, conclu- 
ding with the following resolutions : 

" Resolved, That Congress possesses no constitu- 
tional authority to interfere in any way with the 
institution of slavery in any of the States of this 
confederacy. 

" Resolved, That Congress ought not to interfere 
in any way with slavery in the District of Colum- 
bia. 

" And whereas it is extremely important and desi- 
rable that the agitation of this subject should be 
finally arrested, for the purpose of restoring tranqil- 
ity to the public mind, your committee respectfully 



SUBJECT OF SLAVERY. 123 

recommend the adoption of the following addition- 
al resolution, viz : 

"Besolved, That all petitions, memorials, resolu- 
tions, propositions or papers, relating in any way or 
to any extent whatever, to the subject of slavery," 
or the abolition of slavery, shall, without being print- 
ed or referred, be laid upon the table, and no fur- 
ther action shall be had thereon." 

Mr. Pierce voted in favor of the passage of the 
above resolutions, and they were passed by the 
House of ^Representatives. Still later, upon the 
pure question of the right to petition — not the ex- 
pediency of entertaining petitions — Mr. Pierce was 
in favor of affirming said right, though at all times, 
as at present, entirely opposed to all agitation upon 
the subject of slavery. To the people of the South 
he is therefore unobjectionable, touching this point, 
and that portion of the people of the North which 
is anti-slavery in feeling, can at least admire the 
consistency of Franklin Pierce, and his unswerving 
honesty of character. What he was ten years ago 
he is to-day. He came not into the support of the 
Compromise measures for the sake of office but sim- 
ply because he had always favored any such meas- 
ures whose object was the defeat of all agitation 
upon the subject. 

When Franklin Pierce entered the lower House 
of Congress, he at once became the ardent friend 
and supporter of General Jackson. The almost 
sublime character of the hero of New-Orleans was 



1M LIFE OF FRANKLIN PIERCE. 

fully appreciated by him. His sternness of will, 
his fearless courage, his integrity of heart, constitu- 
ted him a hero indeed, and Franklin Pierce revered 
those qualities in him, and loved and resj>ected the 
man. At that time Andrew Jackson had a host of 
inveterate and unscrupulous enemies, who pursued 
him with a ferocity of purpose and an intensity of 
hate scarcely ever before witnessed in political life. 
Mr. Pierce, from this cause alone would have been 
inclined to become his friend, but he also believed, 
indeed knew, that Jackson was persecuted because 
he had dared to become the open enemy of the 
most gigantic of frauds and monopolies — because 
he had dared to speak out manfully, and act for the 
best interests of the whole people, instead of a small 
class of great capitalists. Mr. Pierce spoke out 
boldly in defence of the brave old hero, justifying 
his course, his policy, and his sincere desire to act 
not only constitutionally, but also to act for the pros- 
perity, the lasting prosperity, of the nation. 

In many respects Mr. Pierce resembles General 
Jackson. He has the same iron will, the same hon- 
esty of character, and the same strong sympathies 
for the masses. But he possesses certain qualities 
which were never Jackson's. General Pierce is a 
graceful, polished man. There are few public men 
in the country who have such a power to make 
friends as he ; therefore, during his residence in 
"Washington he made a wide circle of warm person- 
al friends. Clay, Webster, and many others of 



RESIGNS HIS SEAT IN THE SENATE. 125 

those opposed to him in their political views, were 
his sincere friends. His manners are so winning 
and easy, his good nature so great, that he has verv 
few personal enemies in the land. 

In February, 1842, Mr. Pierce resigned his seat 
in the tJ. S. Senate to the great sorrow, not only his 
constituents, bnt of his friends in "Washington. 
The causes for this step were mainly of a personal 
nature. His wife was always of a retiring disposi- 
tion, and was ill-suited with the excitement of Wash- 
ington life, and when to this was added the misfor- 
tune of poor health, she was compelled to leave 
"Washington, and Mr. Pierce felt it to be his duty 
to accompany her to Concord, and therefore resigned 
his seat in the Senate. 

The following is a copy of the letter which he ad- 
dressed to the President of the Senate : 

Washington^ June 28, 1842. 

Sir : Having informed the governor of New- 
Hampshire that on this day my seat in the Senate 
of the United States would become vacant by resig- 
nation, I have thought proper to communicate the 
fact to you and the Senate. " 

In severing the relations that have so long sub- 
sisted between the gentlemen with whom I have 
been associated, my feelings of pain and regret will 
readily be appreciated by those who know that, in 
all my intercourse during the time I have been a 
member of the body, no unpleasant occurrence has 



126 LIFE OF FRANKLIN PIERCE. 

ever taken place to disturb for a moment my agree- 
able relations with any individual Senator. 

With a desire for the peace and happiness of you 
all, for which now, in the fullness of my heart, I 
find no forms of expression, I have the honor to be, 
with the highest consideration, 

Your obedient servant, 

FKAJSTKLIN PIEECE. 
Hon. Samuel L. Southard, 

President of the Senate. 

At this time Mr. Pierce was only thirty-seven 
years of age, possessed of fine talents, and manners 
which won for him universal popularity, and his 
political prospects were never brighter at any period 
of his public career. He was just at an age, too, 
when the fires of political ambition are apt to burn 
hottest in the hearts of men. lie had friends every- 
where. He could reasonably hope for any promo- 
tion, yet he quietly, calmly resigned his exalted 
office, his ambition, and retired with his wife to the 
pleasant shades of Concord, upon the banks of the 
romantic Merrimack. The act was not only stri- 
king and singular, but it was heroic. Amid the vi- 
olent competition after office and place which char- 
acterizes these " latter days," it is refreshing to be 
able to look at one, w T ho, for the sake of some good 
and noble purpose, coolly relinquishes the most fas- 
cinating prospects of fame and power ! Mr. Pierce 
now devoted himself exclusively to his profession, 
and soon came into a practice w T orth seven or eight 



DECLINES APPOINTMENT TO TT. S. SENATE. 127 

thousand dollars per annum. In another portion 
of the work, we shall speak more at length in ref- 
erence to General Pierce's abilities as a lawyer and 
pleader at the bar. The fact of his income is suf- 
ficient here to prove that his talents were held in 
high esteem by the people of New-Hampshire. 

For three successive years, Mr. Pierce had little 
visible connection with politics, though he was the 
most influential man in the Democratic party of 
New-Hampshire. 

In 1845, Mr. Pierce was appointed, by the Gov- 
ernor, to fill the vacancy in the U. S. Senate, occa- 
sioned by the resignation of Judge Woodbury. 
Mr. "Woodbury was in the Senate, it will be remem- 
bered when he was appointed to the Superior Bench 
by Mr. Polk. He accepted the appointment, and at 
once resigned his seat in the Senate. It became the 
duty of the Governor of New-Hampshire to appoint 
a successor. Such was Mr. Pierce's popularity, that 
at once all the presses in the state pointed him out as 
the most suitable man to fill the vacant seat. He 
was urged with vehemence by the most influential 
men in the State to accept the position. 

The following is the correspondence between him 
and Governor Steele : 

" State of New-Hampshire, [ 
Concord, Oct. 9, 1815. j 
" Hon. Franklin Pierce : 

" Dear Sir : It has become my duty to appoint 
a Senator to the Senate of the United States, to fill 



128 LIFE OF FRANKLIN PIERCE. 

the vacancy occasioned by the resignation of lion. 
Levi Woodbury. And as I know of no one whose 
appointment would give more general satisfaction 
to the citizens of this State than that of yourself, I 
therefore tender to you, Sir, the office of Senator to 
the Senate of the United States, from the date of 
these presents until the pleasure of the Legislature 
of this State shall be made known at their next ses- 
sion. Truly yours, 

" JOUST H. STEELE, 
"Governor of the /State of New-Hampshire" 

"Concord, Octooer 11, 1845. 
4 'His Excellency, John H. Steele: 

"Sir : On my return to town last night, I found 
your official letter of the 9th inst. I acknowledge, 
with unfeigned gratitude, this evidence of your con- 
fidence, and regret, on many accounts, that I cannot 
accept the appointment. 

" It would be pleasant again to meet many with 
whom I was for years associated — pleasant to ac- 
cede to your wishes and the wishes of other true 
and long-tried friends — pleasant to maintain, as 
well as I might be able, the interests and honor of 
our State, in the exalted station you have been 
pleased to assign me. But, with all these consider- 
ations urging an acceptance, I find others, which, 
fairly weighed, constrain me to decline. My per- 
sonal wishes and purposes, in 1842, when I resigned 
a seat in the Senate, were, as I supposed, so per- 



APPOINTED U. S. DISTRICT ATTORNEY. 129 

fectly understood, that I have not, for a moment, 
contemplated a return to public life. Without ad- 
verting to other grounds, which would have much 
influence in forming my decision, the situation of 
my business, professional and otherwise, is such 
that it would be impossible for me to leave the State 
suddenly, as I should be called upon to do, and be 
absent for months, without sacrificing, to a certain 
extent, the interests, and disregarding the reasona- 
ble expectations, of those who rely upon my ser- 
vices. 

" That my interest in the honor of New-Hamp- 
shire, and my devotion to the great principles, the 
firm maintenance of which has secured to her a 
proud position, and an enviable name in all parts of 
the Union, suffers no diminution in retirement, I 
trust may be made sufficiently apparent in every 
contest through which we may be called to pass in 
support of those principles, and in vindication of 
that honor. 

"I am, with the highest consideration, your excel- 
lency's obliged friend and servant, 

"FKAtfK PIEKCE." 

About this time the President of the United 
States offered him the office of District- Attorney of 
New-Hampshire, which he accepted, as the duties 
which belonged properly to it came in the line of 
his profession. He continued to hold this office 
until 1847. 



130 LIFE OF FEANKLIN PIEECE. 

In 1845, a convention of the Democracy of the 
State nominated Mr. Pierce to the office of Govern- 
or, but in a most eloquent speech, he declined this 
honor. 

In 1846, his old friend, President Polk, — with 
whom he had served in Congress before — offered 
him a seat in his Cabinet. He was well aware of 
the great abilities and thorough devotion to princi- 
ple which characterized Mr. Pierce, and was anx- 
ious to secure his services at Washington. In his 
letter to Mr. Pierce, the President says : 

" It gives me sincere pleasure to invite you to ac- 
cept a place in my Cabinet, by tendering to you 
the office of Attorney-General of the United States. 
I have selected you for this important office from 
my personal knowledge of you, and without the so- 
licitation or suggestion of any one. I have done so 
because I have no doubt your personal association 
with me would be pleasant: and from the consider- 
ation that, in the discharge of the duties of the of- 
fice, you could render me important aid in conducting 
my administration. In this instance, at least, the 
office has sought the man, and not the man the of- 
fice, and I hope you may accej)t it." 

The following reply of Mr. Pierce will bear a care- 
ful examination : 

"Concord, N. II, Sept. 6, 1846. 
My Deai' Sir : Your letter of the 27th ult. was 
received a week since. Nothing could have been 



DECLINES A SEAT IN THE CABINET. 131 

more unexpected ; and, considering the importance 
of the proposition in a great variety of aspects, I 
trust you will not think there has been an unrea- 
sonable delay in arriving at a decision. "With my 
pursuits, for the last few years, and my present 
tastes, no position, if I were in a situation, on the 
whole, to desire public employment, could be so ac- 
ceptable as the one which your partiality has prof- 
fered. 

" I ought not, perhaps, in justice to the high mo- 
tives by which I know you are governed, to attrib- 
ute your selection to personal friendship ; but I can- 
not doubt that your judgment in the matter has been 
somewhat warped by your feelings. When I saw 
the manner in which you had cast your Cabinet, I 
was struck by the fact that from the entire range of 
my acquaintance formed at Washington, you could 
not have called around vou men with whom it was. 
my fortune to be better acquainted, or of whom I 
entertained a more delightful recollection, than Mr, 
Buchanan, Mr. Walker, Mr. Mason and Mr. John- 
son. A place in your cabinet, therefore, so far as 
personal association is concerned, could not be more 
agreeable, had the whole been the subject of my 
own choice. 

" When I add, your important measures in the 
foreign and home administration of the Govern- 
ment have commanded not merely the approbation 
of my judgment, but my grateful acknowledge- 
ments, as an American citizen, you will see how de- 



132 LIFE OF FEANKLLN PIERCE. 

sirable, on every ground connected with your ad- 
ministration, the office tendered would be to me ; 
and yet, after mature consideration, I am constrain- 
ed to decline. Although the early years of my 
manhood were devoted to public life, it was never 
really suited to my taste. I longed, as I am sure 
you must often have done, for the quiet and inde- 
pendence that belongs only to the private citizen, and 
now, at forty, I feel that desire stronger than ever. 

" Coming unexpectedly, as this offer does, it would 
be difficult, if not impossible, to arrange the busi- 
ness of an extensive practice, between this and the 
first of November, in a manner at all satisfactory to 
myself, or to those who have committed their inter- 
ests to my care, and who rely on my services. Be- 
sides, you know that Mrs. Pierce's health, while at 
"Washington, was very delicate — it is, I fear, even 
more so now, and the responsibilities which the pro- 
posed change would necessarily impose upon her, 
ought, probably, in themselves, to constitute an in- 
surmountable objection to leaving our quiet home 
for a public station at "Washington. 

""When I resigned my seat in the Senate in 1842, 
I did it with the fixed purpose never again to be 
voluntarily separated from my family, for any con- 
siderable length of time, except at the call of my 
country, in time of war, and yet this consequence, 
for the reason before stated, and on account of cli- 
mate, would be very likely to result from my ac- 
ceptance. 



DECLINES A SEAT IN THE CABESTET. 133 

" These are some of the considerations 'which 
have influenced my decision. You will, I am sure, 
appreciate my motives. You will not believe that 
I have weighed my personal convenience and ease 
against the public interest, especially as the office 
is one which, if not sought, would be readily ac- 
cepted by gentlemen who could bring to your aid 
attainments and qualifications vastly superior to 
mine. 

"Accept my grateful acknowledgments, and be- 
lieve me, truly and faithfully, your friend. 

" FKAKK PIEBCE." 

The good taste, the modesty, and the beauty of 
this letter must be apparent to every reader. It also 
must be evident to every unprejudiced mind, that 
General Pierce has, during his whole political 
life, been a modest, retiring man. We see him 
resigning his seat in the most august legislative 
body in the Union at the call of affection. We see 
him refusing the highest office within the gift of his 
native State ; refusing to accept an appointment to 
the United States Senate and finally refusing a seat 
in the Cabinet of the President, when invited in the 
most flattering, in the most pressing manner. Truly, 
this is not an ordinary political character, and in 
looking at his life and acts, one is carried back to 
the earlier days of our republic, when offices sought 
men — not men offices. 

"While the great mass of politicians have been 

7 



134 LIFE OF FRANKLIN PIERCE. 

straining every nerve, pulling every wire, courting 
every popular breeze, that they might obtain place 
and power, Frank Pierce has shunned the avenues 
to great distinction, has refused the most inviting 
and nattering offices of preferment, that he might 
live in the bosom of his family, at Concord. It is 
just such men who deserve the highest places within 
the gift of the people. Not your designing, ambi- 
tious politician, but the capable, modest statesman, 
who prefers the quiet and retirement of his home, 
but who, for the sake of his country, consents to 
take office — is the character fit for office ! And in 
the great contest, now soon to occur, which shall 
decide who shall fill the Presidential chair, it will 
not be forgotten that Frank Pierce never sought the 
nomination — that it was rather forced upon him — 
and that, therefore, he the more deserves a most tri- 
umphant election ! 



ENLISTS AS A SOLDIER. 135 



CHAPTER VII. 

Mr. Pierce as a Soldier and General — The Breaking out of the 
Mexican War — Mr. Pierce Enlists as a Private — Appointed Brig- 
adier-General — Sails for Vera Cruz — Attacked at National Bridge 
— Joins Gen. Scott at Puebla — His Course through the War — His 
Return — Reception at Concord — His Speech. 

At the time that Mr. Pierce declined the brilliant 
appointment, tendered him by the President of the 
United States, he remarked that he could never 
again consent to leave his family, except at the call 
of his country, in time of war. When, therefore, 
the Mexican war broke out, it found him pledged 
to the service of his country. A requisition was 
made upon the State of New-Hampshire, for a bat- 
talion of volunteers, and Mr. Pierce was among the 
first to put down his name, as a private soldier. 
The company was raised in Concord, and Frank 
Pierce went through all the drill exercises, as a 
private. The Ten Regiment Bill was passed by Con- 
gress, and the President tendered to him the ap- 
pointment of Colonel of the Ninth, which appoint- 
ment he accepted. When the law for the organiza- 
tion of the new ten regiments was passed, President 
Polk ajipointed Mr. Pierce Brigadier-General. The 
appointment was everywhere received with enthu- 
siasm. Mr. Pierce was the son of an old and heroic 



13G LIFE OF FRANKLIN PIERCE. 

soldier, who had fought in the battles of the Revo- 
lution. In his youth he had listened to tales of the 
camp, and early learned to admire the patriotism 
and courage of the heroes of the Revolution. Col. 
Ransom was of this regiment. He was a brave 
officer, and Mr. Pierce wrote to the President, ask- 
ing that he, Colonel Ransom, be appointed jin^- - 
dier-General ; but the President needed the abilities 
of Mr. Pierce, and insisted upon his accepting the 
appointment. His commission, as Brigadier-Gene- 
ral, is dated March 3, 1847. At this time, General 
Low, of Concord, asked Mr. Pierce if it was true 
that he had decided to leave his home, and all its 
endearments, for the plains of Mexico. General 
Pierce's reply was : 

" I have accepted of the commission. I could not 
do otherwise. I was pledged to do it. When I 
left the Senate, it was with a fixed purpose of devo- 
ting myself exclusively to my profession, with the 
single reservation, that if my country should become 
engaged in war, I would ever hold myself in readi- 
ness to serve her in the field, if called upon to defend 
her honor and maintain her rights. War has come, 
and my plighted word must and shall be redeemed." 

General Pierce and Col. Ransom at once pro- 
ceeded to Boston, making the Tremont House their 
head quarters until the work of preparation was 
completed. It is told of General Pierce, that, in 
bidding farewell to his many friends, one of them 



GEN. PIEKCE SAILS FOR MEXICO. . 137 

expressed the hope that he would return in safety 
and lienor. 

" I will come back with honor, or I will not come 
'.." was his reply. 

General Pierce sailed from Newport, in the bark 
Kepler. Large numbers of the troops on board 
were sick, and suffered from the want of water, be- 
ing upon a short allowance. Under these circum- 
stances, Gen. Pierce shared his own allowance with 
his men, and mingled with them to encourage them. 
Jt was characteristic of the man, for kindness is 
his nature. On the 28th of June, he arrived at 
Yera Cruz. Here he encountered pestilence and 
disease, and was himself taken very ill. But amid 
disease and death, he had constant and careful 
thought of the men under his charge. His benev- 
olo: ice was never weary. He spent his money freely, 
and soon became exceedingly popular. He soon 
recovered from disease, and with but a small loss, 
left Yera Cruz in the middle of the terrible month 
of July, for the interior of Mexico. His brigade 
was made up as follows : the ninth regiment, New- 
England men ; the twelfth, from Texas, Missouri, 
Arkansas, Northern Mississippi and Louisiana ; and 
the fifteenth, raised in Ohio, Iowa, Wisconsin, Mich- 
igan, and the eastern part of Missouri, and the 
western part of Indiana. The whole force consist- 
ed of 2,500 men. His line of march was a most 
harassing one, beset on all sides by Mexicans and 
guerilla bands, whose object was to intercept all 



138 LIFE OF FRANKLIN PIERCE. 

recruits, on their march to succor General Scott, in 
the interior, ar d whose main work was to plunder and 
massacre. The great object of General Pierce, on 
the other hand, was, not to give battle, but to avoid 
it — to present General Scott with the greatest pos- 
sible number of healthy soldiers, within the small- 
est space of time. 

Fifteen miles from Yera Cruz, the courage and 
decision of Gen. Pierce were put to trial. He was 
there attacked by a fierce guerilla party, and gave 
an order to charge upon the chapparal. His Colo- 
nel, " the brave Kansom," disputed the propriety of 
the movement, but Pierce replied, firmly and bold- 
ly : "I have given the order 1" The enemy was com- 
pletely routed after some severe fighting. At the 
National Bridge he was again attacked by the guer- 
illas, who barricaded the bridge with chapparal. 
He ordered Captain Dupreau to dash over the barri- 
cade and charge the enemy. The order was prompt- 
ly executed, and with success. In this skirmish 
Gen. Pierce received two bullets through his hat. 

On the 1st of August, Gen. Pierce was at Perote, 
and advised Gen. Scott of the state of his com- 
mand, as follows : 

" I shall bring to your command about twenty- 
four hundred, of all arms. To-morrow morning at 
four o'clock I shall leave here for Puebla, and shall 
make the march in four days." 

The men under his care were principally northern 
recruits ; they had suffered much by disease ; had 



CAMPAIGN IN MEXICO. 139 

been attacked five times by guerilla parties, and yet 
General Pierce had lost scarcely a man, though in 
the heart of an enemy's country. 

On the 6th of August he joined General Scott at 
Puebla, with his command in excellent condition. 

General Scott received him with open arms, and 
with the warmest encomiums. Military critics 
were agreed in the opinion that this feat alone — that 
of marching a large army through an enemy's coun- 
try without loss — would have established his repu- 
tation as a military man. The skill, patience, judg- 
ment and vigilance he exhibited are not at once 
appreciated by the masses, but it is well known to 
men used to the field, that greater generalship is of- 
ten required for such a feat than for one of the most 
brilliant actions in battle. 

We cannot do better than give the further ac- 
count of General Pierce's Campaign, in Mexico, in 
the words of an eye witness, one of his friends, a 
most reliable man, and at present a citizen of Wash- 
ington. The account was furnished for the columns 
of the Boston Post : 

" In accordance with my promise to you in Wash- 
ington, I will state what I know of General Pierce's 
military services and character in Mexico. I shall 
only have to state what I have repeatedly said to 
mutual friends the last four years. I had no per- 
sonal acquaintance with General Pierce till I met 
him in Mexico. Our acquaintance has its date 



\ 

140 LIFE OP FKANKLIN PIERCE. 

r 

from tlie battle field of Contreras, where I was as- 
sociated on duty with his command, and where it 
was particularly my good fortune to make the ac- 
quaintance of our own gallant Xew-England regi- 
ment, the 9th infantry, commanded by the interpid 
Ransom. From that day to this the fame of that 
regiment has been dear to me, and particularly the 
fame of General Pierce, the brigade commander of 
the regiment, its first colonel, and one who, by voice 
and hand, contributed, so largely to raising it, and 
sending it to the field. 

" What I shall say of General Pierce will not rest 
upon my individual testimony, but will simply ex- 
press the convictions of every man, in that gallant 
army, who knew General Pierce, from General Scott 
down to the private soldiers, who found in their 
commander, Pierce, a counsellor and friend, one who 
smoothed the pillow of disease, and poured oil up- 
on the deep wounds of the battle. General Scott, 
in all his dispatches, refers to General Pierce in 
terms of the warmest commendation and in appoint- 
ing him one of the commissioners to arrange the 
armistice, gave his emphatic testimony to his char- 
acter and services. 

" Well do I know, that if an insane and wicked 
party press shall slander his good name in connec- 
tion with his military services, it will carry unspeak- 
able sorrow and disgust to the heart of our common, 
renowned commander, Gen. Scott. The mutual 
friendship and confidence which sprung up between 



CAMPAIGN IN MEXICO. 141 

these two men, in Mexico, has continued to this 
day. Each has delighted on all proper occasions to 
do justice to the other. Should Gen. Scott be the 
Whig candidate for the Presidency, the country 
will be gratified with the spectacle of two of its no- 
ble sons, themselves devoted friends, being the 
respective standard bearers of the two great parties. 
It will, indeed, under such circumstances, be a con- 
test of honor, in which, on both sides, nothing but 
laurels will be won. 

" I well remember Gen. Pierce's arrival at Puebla 
with our last reinforcements, 2,500 men. Our eyes 
were fixed on Mexico. The order had been given 
for the march. "We had already heard how well 
that command had been conducted from the tierre 
caliente to the plain of Perote, through a country 
swarming with enemies. The bridge of the Plan 
del Rio had been broken down, and Bodfish, of 
Maine, was already known to the whole army as 
having suggested and executed a simple expedient, 
which enabled the command to cross the stream 
without loss. At the National Bridge it was known 
that Pierce, at the head of his command, cool and 
collected under a shower of bullets, had forced the 
enemy's stronghold, with but little loss to his com- 
mand. His attention to the various wants of his 
men, his vigilance by day and by night, his skill in 
availing himself of the experience of his staff, his 
uniform good sense, and his unobtrusive modesty, 
went before him, and had already won golden opin- 



142 LIFE OF FRANKLIN PIEECE. 

ions for him. Indeed, we were told that frequently 
at night he came into camp on foot, his horse hav- 
ing been yielded to some feeble soldiers. He seemed 
to have but one desire, and that was entirely to do 
his duty to his country, and the individual men of 
his command. 

" Thus, on his arrival at Puebla, after a rapid and 
successful march, during the hot season, and under 
untoward circumstances, he was warmly greeted, 
and drew the highest encomiums from the general- 
in-chief, and the command was in such good condi- 
tion that the next morning the advance, under the 
veteran Twiggs, commenced the movement upon 
the capital. 

" We entered the valley, moved round Chalco, 
forced the entrenched camp at Contreras, won the 
splendid victory of Churubusco, and had Mexico at 
our feet. From the first movement against Con- 
treras, in some thirty-two hours, the enemies' force 
was scattered, and, as we then hoped, the great ob- 
ject of the campaign gained. 

" In these operations the brigade of Pierce shared 
in the flank movements upon Contreras, and nobly 
did its duty. The operations of the 19th have been 
much misunderstood. 

" The plan from the outset of the battle was to 
amuse the enemy in front by a bold demonstration, 
and under cover of it to despatch a force against 
their left flank, which, occupying strong villages 
and the roads to the city, would cut them off from 



CAMPAIGN IN MEXICO. 143 

all reinforcements, and thus place tbeni entirely at 
our mercv. This plan was pursued, though the 
movement upon the road and villages was not prose- 
cuted, with all the disposable force, with the prompt- 
ness that could have been desired. The staff officers 
in the front fully appreciating the necessity of vig- 
orous measures to drive back the skirmishers to the 
camp, and to completely deceive the enemy, recom- 
mended a very bold course. Guns and men were 
pushed forward with all the fierceness and unflinch- 
ing constancy of a real attack. The almost imprac- 
ticable character of the ground is well known. The 
whole field was a volcanic rock of honey-comb pro- 
jection, rising into sharp points at every turn, and 
making it very difficult for strong men to make their 
way. Our troops were delayed but not deterred by 
these difficulties. First Smith and then Pierce were 
sent to the front simultaneously, with Riley and 
Cadwallader to the flank and rear. Both Smith and 
Pierce brought up their commands in admirable 
order. The skirmishers were in great force in the 
pedregal, and resisted our advance with great vigor 
and confidence. The splendid pieces of Valencia 
from the entrenched camp, were sending balls and 
shells through our ranks. Weil do I remember 
their harsh and hissing accents, of all things calcu- 
lated to terrify and dismay new troops. 

" At this moment, in face of the skirmishers, and 
in view of the camp, with its well served artillery, 
Pierce brought up his brigade, the New England 



144 LTFE OF FEANKLIN PIEECTE. 

regiment, led by Itansom, in the advance. It was 
their first essay in the valley. As a New England 
man I rejoiced in their noble conduct as they rushed 
through the storm of fire, passing near the position 
of the batteries and driving the enemy's skirmishers 
before them. Without a pause in the attack, they 
forced the enemy from point to point, drove him 
into his camp, crossed themselves, the stream flow- 
ing near its front, and took a position within three 
hundred yards of the main force of the enemy. 
This bold, unflinching, and most gallant movement 
did much to cause the enemy to concentrate all his 
troops in the camp, fixed his attention upon the 
front attack, and was a vital element in the success 
of the great flank movement and real attack against 
the rear of the enemy. 

" Pierce led his command most gallantly ; but 
pressing eagerly to the front, still mounted, his horse 
became restive under the heavy fire, plunged vio- 
lently, and threw him heavily to the ground upon 
the sharp rocks, and injured him so severely as to 
disable him for a time to continue with his com- 
mand. He refers to it in his official report, and it 
was simply one of the many numerous accidents on 
that field. Many strong men fainted from sheer 
exhaustion." 

" Two other general officers, Pillow and Twiggs, 
were unable to follow their commands. Twiggs was 
badly hurt by falling into one of the holes in the 
rocks whilst making his way on foot, and neither of 



CAMPAIGN IN MEXICO. 145 

them were able to join their commands till after the 
crowning victory of the next morning. Pierce's 
command, however, passed the night on the field, in 
front of the camp, and Pierce passed the night 
with it. 

"At nightfall, on the nineteenth, although the 
enemy had not "been driven from his camp, he had 
gained positions surely placing the victory in our 
hands. Amid the pelting storms of the afternoon 
and night, with loss of food and sleep, our men did 
look forward with some anxiety to the day. But 
no stain of misconduct rested on a single officer or 
man, and each had made the firm resolve to do all 
and dare all for his country. 

" Pierce, though badly injured and in great suf- 
fering, was in front in the midst of his command, 
and the brigades of Riley, Shields, Smith and Cad- 
wallader were in the villages, and on the road 
leading to the city of Mexico. From this strong 
position, Smith, to whom the command had been 
most magnanimously yielded by his senior, Shields, 
in consequence of his having preceded him on the 
ground, and knowing from personal observation 
more of the field, determined to attack the en- 
trenched camp before daylight in the morning, and 
break the whole of Valencia's command into pieces, 
before succor could be brought. The camp was to 
be reconnoitred, the paths thereto marked, and the 
troops led out in the night. The rain was still fall- 
ing in torrents. Scarcely a man had had food or 



146 LIFE OF FRANKLIN PIEECE. 

sleep. The officers of engineers and of the staff 
groped their way with their hands, the path so slip- 
pery that they were constantly thrown upon the 
ground, and they marked the route by cutting down 
the maguey plant which lined the wayside. They 
conducted the troops by feeling their way along the 
cut magueys with their hands. Such were the diffi- 
culties in organizing the attack in the village. On 
the front, orders were received from General Scott 
soon after midnight — who, knowing the facts of the 
whole field, the meditated attack of Smith, and the 
resolution of his troops, the good spirits of the 
men in front under Pierce, and who, in conse- 
quence, looked forward with calm confidence to a 
glorious victory — to organize the command, and be 
ready to co operate in the attack on the camp. 

" Pierce had, after nightfall, withdrawn his troops 
from their advanced position on the rivulet, and in 
the pedregal, where they were necessarily much 
scattered, to near the base of the hill, where they 
were brought together and put in order to pass the 
night, and be ready for the duties of the morrow. 

" These troops, the 9th and 12th infantry, scat- 
tered bodies of the rifles and other commands, were 
conducted back slowly and painfully over the ped- 
regal to the stream occupied by them the previous 
day, and were at dawn in readiness for the attack. 

"This movement was personally conducted by 
Ransom, Pierce not having the physical strength, 
from the injuries of the previous day, to make his 



CAMPAIGN IN MEXICO. 147 

way through the rocks. It must be remembered 
that this movement was made in the dark, in the 
midst of rain, over sharp and slippery rocks, and 
one like that accomplished by Smith, deemed by the 
enemy to be utterly impracticable. 

" Thus at daylight, and struggling with such diffi- 
culties, our troops reached their positions, and the 
attack was made. In seventeen short minutes the 
entrenched camp and large numbers of prisoners 
were in our. hands. The whole command of Va- 
lencia was entirely broken into pieces. Riley in 
the fierce storm of the camp, Cadwallacler and Dim- 
ick (temporarily commanding Smith's brigade) in 
support, Shields holding the villages, and Pierce in 
front, first holding the attention of the enemy, thus 
carrying out the ideas of the previous day, and af- 
terwards participating in the fight, all gloriously 
did their duty, and are entitled to the gratitude of 
their country. 

" The spirit and enthusiasm of the army now rose 
to the culminating point ; fatigue was no longer 
felt ; the sick and i'eeble man became for the time 
well and strong; the anxious bivouac and the toils 
of the pedregal were forgotten. All eyes were 
turned towards the city of Mexico ; all hearts burned 
to pursue the enemy and strike the great blow of 
the war. The spontaneous and irresistible impulse 
of ten thousand men in arms was promptly availed 
of by the commander-in-chief, and by commanders 
of all grades. Shields, Twiggs, Pillow, Smith, 



148 LIFE OF FRANKLIN PIERCE. 

Pierce, Cadwallader and Riley, all at the head of 
their respective commands, urged on our troops. 
Worth also pnt his division in movement in front of 
San Antonio, and after dispersing its retreating 
garrison, 3,000 strong, pressed forward on the high 
road to Mexico. It was no time for groping recon- 
noisances, or nice calculations as to the circumstances 
of the ground. The victory of Contreras drove the 
enemy through San Angel and Cuoycan, and the 
advance under Twiggs, uniting with Worth, at- 
tacked with such terrible energy the enemy retreat- 
ing through the strong position of Churubusco, that 
there the enemy was compelled to make his final 
stand, some miles from the city. In a few moments, 
the roar of cannon and the incessant rattling of mus- 
ketry developed the whole field, and immediately 
the general-in-chief threw his reserves into the ac- 
tion. First Pierce and then Shields was sent to 
attack and cut off the enemy's retreat upon the cap- 
ital. It was the grand strategic movement of the 
field. Pierce, 'just able to keep the saddle,' in 
suffering and anguish from the accident of the pre- 
vious day, and only fit for a sick bed, at the head 
of his command, steadily pursued his way. 

" It was through thick corn, over wide ditches, 
filled with water and marshy ground. The day was 
oppressively hot. No actor in that field will ever 
forget the desperation with which it was contested, 
or the awful and incessant thunders of the fight. 
On the front the shouts of the assailants and defen- 



CAMPAIGN IN MEXICO. 149 

ders mingled in hoarse tones of defiance. For two 
hours the contest was maintained with equal hand, 
and no serious impression was made upon the en- 
emy's line, till the decisive and splendid flank move- 
ment of Pierce and Shields distracted his attention 
and compelled him to change his order of battle. 

" It is not my design to go into details. Suffice 
it to say that after extraordinary exertions and ex- 
periencing great loss, the whole reserve, under the 
command of Shields, drove back the overwhelming 
force of the enemy, and relieved all parts of the 
field. Worth joined his victorious troops with 
Shields, the convent soon held out the white flag, 
and the city and valley of Mexico lay at our feet. 

"The foregoing narrative will show the important 
part assigned to Pierce, at the head of the reserve, 
to decide the fortunes of the day. It is surprising 
that in his feeble condition he should have underta- 
ken to lead his troops and struggle with the difficul- 
ties of the ground. He, however, boldly led them 
into the presence of the enemy, and endeavoring to 
make his way on foot, fell, faint and exhausted, under 
the heavy fire of that field. But his friends rejoiced 
that he had strength enough to do a noble, gallant 
and important part. The impression which he made 
upon the army at this time, will best be shown by 
the following quotations from the official reports : 

" General Scott says, in his report of the battle of 
Churubusco: 

" ' Accordingly, the two advanced divisions, and 



150 LIFE OF FRANKLIN PIEECE. 

Shields' brigade, marched from Contreras, under 
the immediate orders of Major General Pillow, who 
was now joined by the gallant Brigadier General 
Pierce, of his division, personally thrown out of ac- 
tivity, late the evening before, by a severe hurt 
received from the fall of his horse.' 

" ' Next, (bnt all in ten minutes) I sent Pierce, 
(just able to keep the saddle) with his brigade, 
(Pillow's division) conducted by Capt. Lee, engineer, 
by a third road, a little farther to our left, to attack 
the enemy's right and rear, in order to favor the 
movement upon the convent, and cut off the retreat 
towards the capital. And, finally, Shields, senior 
brigadier to Pierce, with the New- York and South 
Carolina volunteers, (Quitman's division) was or- 
dered to follow Pierce closely, said to take command 
of our left wing.' 

"'All these movements were made with the ut- 
most alacrity by our gallant troops and commanders.' 

" \ It has been stated that some two hours and a 
half before, Pierce, followed closely by the volun- 
teer brigade — both under the command of Briga- 
dier General Shields — had been detached to our 
left to turn the enemy's works ; to prevent the es- 
cape of the garrisons, and to oppose the extension of 
the enemy's numerous corps from the rear, upon 
and around our left.' 

" ' Considering the inferior numbers of the two 
brigades, the objects of the movement were difficult 
to accomplish.' 



CAJMfAfGN EN T MEXICO. 151 

u ' The battle was long, hot and varied ; but ulti- 
mately success crowned the zeal and gallantry of 
our troops.' &c 

" 4 .Brigadier General Pierce, from the hurt of 
the evening before — • under pain and exhaustion — 
fainted in the action.' 

" c Several other changes of command occurred 
on this field.' 

" General Worth, in his report, says : 
" c The division commander cannot forego the 
opportunity presented, to acknowledge his obliga- 
tions and express his admiration of the gallant bear- 
ing of Major General Pillow and Brigadier Generals 
Shields, Cadwallader and Pierce, with whom he 
had the gratification of concert and co-operation at 
various critical periods of the conflict.' 

" General Pillow, in his report of this battle, 
says : 

" ' During this movement, I met with Colonels 
Ransom's and Morgan's regiments, 12th infantry, 
under Capt. "Wood, and the howitzer battery, under 
Lieut. Peno, parts of my division, forming General 
Pierce's brigade, which had been moved by order 
of the general-in-chief, under command of General 
Pierce, against a large body of the enemy to the 
right and rear of the main work, when they had 
been in conjunction with Shields' brigade, engaged 
in a fierce, open field fight with a large force.' 



152 LIFE OF FEAKKLIN PIEECE. 

" c General Pierce, though still suffering severely 
from Lis injury of the preceding clay, had neverthe- 
less been on duty, and in command of his brigade 
during the day, and until a few moments before, 
when he had fainted from pain and exhaustion, and 
been carried from the field? 

" ' I cannot withhold the expression of my sense 
of the deep obligations I am under for the success 
and honor due to my command, to my two brigadier 
generals, (Shields and Pierce) whose promptitude, 
skill and daring, were equal to every emergency, 
and who, in the absence of discipline in their com- 
mands, met and overcame every obstacle, and led 
on their commands to honor and distinction? . . . 

" The above extracts show clearly General Pierce's 
standing in the army at that time. Great regret 
was expressed at his unfortunate accident, but great 
admiration for the noble manner in which he bore 
himself under it. His aj3pointment as one of the 
commissioners to arrange the armistice, was con- 
sidered as exceedingly judicious and highly merited. 
It crave universal satisfaction. 

" The armistice failed, and resort was again had 
to arms. The bloody field of Molino, and the pro- 
tracted struggle for the city attested how rapidly the 
enemy had rallied from his defeat and the prowess 
and constancy of xlmerican troops. At Molino 3,000 
Americans, under the gallant and lamented Worth, 
drove 14,000 Mexicans from their chosen position 



CAMPAIGN IN MEXICO. 153 

into and under cover at Chepultepec. What by 
General Scott was expected to have been a slight 
brush proved to be the most terrible conflict of the 
war, and the brigades of Pierce and Riley were or- 
dered up to support it. Thus General Scott, in his 
reports states, " * • • But the battle was won just as 
Brigadier Gen. Pierce interposed his corps between 
Garland's brigade (Worth's division) and the retreat- 
in a; enemv.' 

" This gave offence to Worth, as intimating that 
without Pierce his own command would not have 
maintained the field. Whereas the particular ex- 
pression grew out of the gallant manner in which 
Pierce brough this command to its assigned position, 
and which was observed by Scott from a command- 
ing position, where he overlooked the whole field. 
Within three days, officers in this city, of the old 
army, have spoken of it with great admiration. 
Two who accompanied Pierce to his position, speak 
of his extraordinary coolness and composure as a 
6hell came streaming from Chepultepec through the 
ranks of his command. From its direction, every 
one feared that it would strike Pierce and kill both 
him and his horse. Happily no one was injured. 

" In the final operations about Chepultepec, it 
was necessary, as a preliminary step, to re-occupy 
the field of Molino, and in that position to plant bat- 
teries against Chepultepec. Our troops had been 
withdrawn from the position since the battle of the 
8th. Pillow's division, Cadwallader's and Pierce's 



154: LIFE OF FRANKLIN PIERCE. 

brigades, were ordered to drive the enemy from it, 
and hold it against whatever force might be brought 
against them. The order was gallantly executed ; 
but the enemy had been previously withdrawn. 
Pierce marched out with his company early in the 
morning of the 12th September, and though scarcely 
able to move a step, from his enfeebled condition, 
growing out of his great exertions in bringing up 
his command at Puebla, and from fatigue and expo- 
sure at Contreras and Churubusco, he remained in 
the field till mid-day, when the batteries were play- 
ing upon Chepultepec, and when it was certain that 
no further active operations would be prosecuted 
during the clay. He then reluctantly returned to 
the quarters of General Worth, in the village of Ta- 
cubaya, a short distance only from the field, so pros- 
trated that he was not able to leave his bed for some 
thirty-six hours. It is one of the saddest experien- 
ces to a gallant and patriotic soldier to be prevented 
by sickness, wounds or infirmity from sharing the 
glories and clangers of the battle field with his com- 
panions in arms. 

" Twiggs was thus thrown out of the earlier ope- 
rations at Monterey ; Persifer F. Smith, at Cerro 
Gordo ; the gallant Colonel C. F. Smith, perhaps the 
model soldier of the old army, from Molino. So 
with Pierce. I have often conversed with Worth's 
officers in relation to Pierce. Attracted by his frank 
and cordial manner, they esteemed him for his man- 
ly and disinterested character, and had unbounded 






CAMPAIGN IN MEXICO. 155 

confidence in his prudence, judgment and gallantry. 
They speak of his despondency at not being able to 
lead his men in the last great battle of the valley. 
But he felt in a measure consoled from the reflection 
that his own gallant staff officers were in the field, 
and that his intreped friend Ransom, his first choice 
to command the New England Regiment, was to 
lead them. Alas, poor Eansom ! Not only a bright 
ornament to his own New England, but to the whole 
country — one of the noblest and best soldiers of 
that memorable campaign. Leading his regiment 
with consummate skill, and pressing forward with 
his usual order, he was shot through the head, and 
fell a willing sacrifice to his country. 

" This is not the place to describe how Chepulte- 
pec yielded to the firm, unyielding and enthusiactic 
assault of our troops under Pillow and Quitman, or 
how Worth, on the two great causeways of approach, 
drove the enemy into the city, and took possession 
of the gates of Belen and of Cosnu. The resistance 
at both points was stern and protracted. Santa 
Anna was in the front ranks, cheering on and lead- 
ing his men at every point of danger. It is due to 
his extraordinary gallantry and exertion, that at 
night-fall, he retained possession of the city. Quit- 
man, after securing the Belen gate at half-past one 
o'clock, was abliged to cover his troops the remain- 
der of the day. He could not move a step under the 
pitiless and terrible fire of the citadel. Worth occu- 



156 LIFE OF FRANKLIN PIERCE. 

pied one square within the Cosnn gate, strong and 
easily defensible buildings being still in the hand of 
the enemy to repel his further progress. 

" In these positions our troops passed the night. 
Both Quitman and "Worth made preparations to 
storm the city in the morning. Quitman strength- 
ened and enlarged his batteries with the determina- 
tion to batter and storm the citadel. Pierce, at his 
solitary quarters towards dark, learned from Captain 
Hardcastle, just from "Worth, whose room he occu- 
pied, how affairs stood, and that the final struggle 
for the mastery in the valley would take place the 
next morning. ' The city will be stormed and the 
final victory of the war will be achieved to-morrow,' 
says Hardcastle. ' I will then join my command 
immediately,' replied Pierce, and he got up and at- 
tempted to dress himself. Hardcastle, however, re- 
monstrated, and urged him to remain in bed till mor- 
ning to save his strength, saying to him that his 
services would not be needed till then. He acqui- 
esced, and learned from Hardcastle the further par- 
ticulars of the field. 

" The greater portion of his own brigade was with 
Quitman, and a portion with "Worth. Quitman's 
position, under the fire of the citadel, was one of 
vastly more danger and difficulty than "Worth's. 
The square within the garita, occupied by "Worth, 
led at once into the heart of the city, and his ad- 
vance by the slow process of the miner was certain. 



CAMPAIGN EN T MEXICO. 157 

Quitman could only assault the citadel by passing 
over an open space, and the citadel itself was sepa- 
rated from the adjacent suburb of the city. 

" Pierce, in the course of the night, joined Quit- 
man, in readiness for the morn. It is true that com- 
missioners passed through Worth's command in the 
night, and announced to General Scott, at Tacuba- 
ya, that the city was evacuated. But this was 
known to very few persons in the army, and as 
General Scott refused to listen to the terms proposed 
by the commissioners, these few feared the army 
would return and do battle for the city. 

" At dawn, therefore, Quitman made his arrange- 
ments to commence the attack, and it was not till 
broad daylight that, by personal observation, he dis- 
covered that the citadel had been abandoned. He 
pushed on with his command, and soon seized the 
National Palace, and hoisted thereon our own glo- 
rious stars and stripes. 

" During the clay, a desultory street fight was 
kept up ; many officers and men were killed and 
wounded, and not till the night of the 14th was the 
city completely in our hands. 

" In these final operations, therefore, Pierce led 
his command to the field of Molino, where a severe 
contest was expected, and remained on the ground 
till it was certain the attack would not be made 
till the following day ; and, after confinement from 
utter prostration, to his sick bed for thirty-six hours, 
he joined, in the night, his command at the point 



158 LIFE OF FRANKLIN PIERCE. 

of greatest difficulty and danger, when, on all sides, 
the final battle was expected to come off. It re- 
dounds especially to his credit, and shows his gal- 
lantry and resolution, his assuming the command 
of his brigade at these two critical junctures." 



Another writer, who was a witness to General 
Pierce's gallantry in the battles of the Mexican 
war, thus sums up his recital of the General's mili- 
tary career : 

" 1. General Pierce was at Yera Cruz with 2,500 
men, in June, 1847, where, contrary to his expecta- 
tions, he was obliged to remain more than three 
weeks, in consequence of a want of requisite pro- 
visions, while he was, for more than four weeks, in 
Terra Calienti, the vomito region. At length he 
marched for Yera Cruz, with a train which, when 
closed np, extended two miles. He went through 
a country, and over a road, strong in natural defen- 
ces, swarming with guerillas, dogged at every step 
by a wily enemy, with constant alarms and reports 
of attacks, and was assaulted six times on his road, 
yet he reached Puebla without the loss of a single 
wagon, and with his command in fine order. The 
conduct of the General, in this march — his energy, 
his sleepless vigilance, coolness in difficulty, good 
judgment and skill in availing himself of the servi- 
ces of his staff — won the highest encomiums from 
military men of the old line, and elicited the warm 



CAMPAIGN m MEXICO. 159 

commendations of General Scott. This march alone 
proved him to possess the qualities of an able and 
successful commander. 

" 2. General Pierce was in action at the National 
Bridge. Here the Mexicans were strongly posted. 
The place furnished strong natural advantages. 
Across the main bridge they had thrown a barri- 
cade, and on a high bluff which commanded it, they 
had added breastworks. There was no way in which 
this position could be turned, and the General's ar- 
tillery would have been ineffective for the most 
commanding point in which it could be placed. He 
determined to cross under the fire of the enemy's 
escopetes. His order to storm these works was ad- 
mirably executed. Lieutenant Colonel Bonham's 
battalion rushed forward with a shout, under a 
heavy fire from the enemy, that struck down many 
of his men. But they pressed forward and leaped the 
barricade, followed by Capt. Dupreau's company of 
cavalry. In ten minutes, the enemy were in flight 
in every direction. General Pierce was by the 
side of Colonel Bonham in this attack. Both had 
narrow escapes. The Colonel's horse was shot, and 
a ball passed through the rim of the General's hat. 
This was a well devised and gallant affair, and the 
fame of it went before General Pierce, and he was 
handsomely spoken of in the army. This was the 
first action of much account in which he was en- 
gaged. 

"§. General Pierce was again in action at Contre- 



160 LIFE OF FRAiraXIH PIERCE. 

ras, on the 19th of August. His brigade was or- 
dered to attack the enemy in front. He came in 
sidit of the Mexicans at 2 o'clock in the afternoon, 
and led his men in the attack. He was under a 
galling fire of the enemy three hours. As he was 
leading his brigade through a perfect shower of round 
shot and shells from the strong entrenchments in 
front, and the musketry of the infantry, his horse, 
being at full speed, fell under him upon a ledge of 
rocks. He sustained severe inj ury by the shock and 
bruises, but especially by a severe sprain in his 
left knee, which came under him. At first, he was 
not conscious of being much hurt, but soon became 
exceedingly faint. Dr. Richie, a surgeon in his com- 
mand, assisted him, and administered to him. In a 
few moments, he was able, with difficulty, to walk, 
when he pressed forward to Captain Magruder's 
battery. Here he found the horse of Lieutenant 
Johnson, who had just received a mortal wound. 
He was permitted to take this horse, was assisted 
into the saddle, and continued in it until 11 o'clock 
that ni«:ht. At 9 o'clock he was the senior officer 
on the field, when he ordered his command to a new 
position. The night was dark, the rain poured in 
torrents, and the ground was difficult, yet the General 
still kept on duty. At one o'clock, in his bivouac, 
he received orders from General Scott by General 
Twiggs and Captain Lee, when, at the head of his 
command, he moved to take another position, to be 
in readiness to aid in the operations of the next 



CAMPAIGN IN MEXICO. 161 

morning. Such was General Pierce's service in the 
afternoon and night of August 19th. 

" 4. At daylight, on the morning of the 20th, his 
command assailed the enemy with great intrepidity, 
and contributed much to the consummation of 
the work begun on the previous day. That morn- 
ing, Valencia, with seven thousand troops, was de- 
feated. Gen. Pierce still kept the saddle, and was 
at the head of his brigade. He was ordered to pur- 
sue the flying enemy, and as he passed the enemy's 
works the scene was awful. The road, he says, and 
adjacent fields were everywhere strewed with the 
mangled bodies of the dead and dying. ' "We con- 
tinued the pursuit,' he says, c until 1 o'clock, when 
our front came up with the enemy's strong works at 
Churubusco and San Antonio.' Then, (after 1 
o'clock,) this great conflict commenced. 

u At San Angel dispositions had been made to 
attack in reverse, the enemy's works on the San Au- 
gustine road. General Scott ordered him to march 
his brigade, in concert with that of the intrepid 
General Shields, across the open country between 
Santa Catarina and the above road, in order to 
cut off the retreat of the enemy. This position was 
promptly reached. The enemy's line was found in 
perfect order, extending as far in either direction as 
the eye could reach, and presenting a splendid 
&how. He was vigorously and successfully attack- 
ed. At the head of his command, General Pierce 
arrived at a ditch, which it was impossible for hia 



162 LIFE OF FRANKLIN PIERCE. 

horse to leap. He dismounted, and, without 
thinking of his injury, he hurried forward at the 
head of his brigade, for about three hundred yards, 
into the midst of the enemy's fire. Turning sud- 
denly upon his knee, the cartilage of which had 
been badly injured, he fainted and fell upon a bank 
in direct range and within perfect reach of the Mex- 
ican shot. The rout of the Mexican force was soon 
complete. Colonel O'Hara, who saw him, and 
served with him in this battle, says ' he was found 
in the foremost rank of battle, and through most of 
that bloody day, he was the spirit of the wing in 
which he was placed.' 

" 5. General Pierce's next service was his connec- 
tion with the armistice, which the enemy asked, it 
was supposed, with a view to peace. He had not 
taken off his spurs, nor slept an hour for two nights, 
in consequence of the pain of his knee and his en- 
gagements in the field. It was after he had been 
borne insensible from the battle, and had just re- 
covered from his faintness, that he received notice 
of the honorable distinction that had been conferred 
upon him, in being appointed one of the commis- 
sioners to arrange the terms of an armistice. He 
obeyed the summons, was helped into his saddle, 
rode two and a half miles to Tacubaya, and met the 
commissioners at the house of Mr. Mcintosh, the 
British consul-general. The conference commenced 
late in the afternoon, and at four the next morning 
the articles were signed. 



CAMPAIGN IN MEXICO. 163 

" 6. General Pierce's next service was in connec- 
tion with the battle of Molino del Key, September 8th. 
His brigade was ordered into action by Gen. Scott, 
who commended the zeal and rapidity of its move- 
ment. Though the battle had been decided before 
it reached the field, yet General Pierce brought his 
command under fire in such fine order as to win 
praise from the old officers. Here he was for some 
time engaged in the honorable service of covering 
the removal of killed and wounded, and the captured 
ammunition, from the field. While so occupied — 
Col. Piley in his official report writes — 'the 2d 
infantry — temporarily under the orders of Brigadier 
General Pierce — became engaged with the enemy's 
skirmishes at the foot of Chepultepec' It was in 
these skirmishes that he exhibited the gallantry that 
called forth the encomiums of his brother officers, and 
excited the enthusiasm of the men. It was at this 
time that he led a portion of his command, to repel 
the enemy's attacks, with a chivalric courage that 
caused him to be spoken of with admiration. The 
duty assigned to him was worthily performed. 

" 7. General Pierce's next service was in connec- 
tion with the battle of Chepultepec. His brigade 
was assigned an important position on the 12th — 
the evening previous to the battle — which it was 
prompt to take. But the General had been for thirty 
six hours previous confined to his bed, and was not 
with his brigade. And it was owing to this illness 
that he was not, on the 13th, by the side of the 



164 LIFE OF FKANKLUtf PIERCE. 

brave Bansom and Seymour, storming the heights 
of Chepultepec. Ill as he was, however, to the sur- 
prise of his brother officers, he left his bed on the 
night of the 13th for the purpose of sharing in the 
contemplated storming of the Mexican capital on 
the following morning. It was a most eventful 
night. The brave General Quitman had literally 
fought his way by the gate Belen to a point within 
Mexico, where, under cover of darkness, he was 
raising defences in the position he had won to shel- 
ter his corps. At this time he was under the guns 
of a most formidable citadel, which had yet to be 
conquered. It was such times that called forth the 
indefatigable energy of the accomplished engineers. 
Sand bags were procured. Parapets were comple- 
ted ; formidable batteries were constructed ; a 24 
pounder, and 18 inch pounder, and an 8 inch howit- 
zer, were placed in position — such heavy labor 
being cheerfully done by the men under the very 
guns of the great Mexican citadel. Now, one of the 
gallant regiments in this post of real danger and 
glory, was the New-England ninth — part of Pierce's 
command. And during the night, while the vigi- 
lant Quitman was overseeing these trenches, Gen- 
eral Pierce reported to him in person, received 
orders to protect Steptoe's light battery, and received 
General Quitman's thanks for his prompt execution 
of the orders. At that time there was not an officer 
in the army who did not expect an assault at day- 
light. But in the morning a white flag came from 



CAMPAIGN ET MEXICO. 165 

this very citadel, and gave the first joyful news that 
Santa Anna had evacuated Mexico ! 

" 8. While such was the specific service of General 
Pierce, his general bearing, as to his relations with 
his command, from the time he landed in Mexico 
to the hour of his departure, was such as to win 
golden opinions from all. From the time he left 
Vera Cruz until he reached the valley of Mexico, 
he was every rod either in the saddle or on foot. 
This could be said of but few officers, for in conse- 
quence of change of climate, or of the water, or of 
exposure, many were obliged to take an ambulance. 
Thus did he share the fatigues of his troops. He 
attended to their wants in sickness, he was by their 
side when wounded or dying ; he received their last 
requests. Hence, because he had a heart to sym- 
pathize with them was he idolized by his men. His 
gentlemanly bearing and republican manners made 
him a great favorite with all. Hence the universal 
testimony was, that he had conducted as a general 
officer, with great honor and eminent usefulness. 
1 Old Army' — written by one who was an eye 
witness of the career of General Pierce, and who 
says c he has reason to believe that every officer of 
the old army would sustain him in what he writes"* — ■ 
says, 4 that in his service in Mexico he did his duty 
as a son of the Kepublic ; that he was eminently 
patriotic, disinterested, and gallant; and that it has 
added a laurel to his beautiful civic wreath. As a 
citizen, he has been ready to make sacrifice for his 
8* 



166 LIFE OF FRANKLIN PIERCE. 

country. As a soldier and commander, he has 
shown gallantry before the enemy, and was emi- 
nently the friend and father of his command.' 

" Such is a plain and simply just record of General 
Pierce's military services in Mexico. At the call 
of the law he was prompt, as a citizen-soldier, to 
rally to the standard of the law, and to expose his 
life freely for his country. He did this gallantly. 
But war is not his profession. He becomes a sol- 
dier only when his country has battles to fight; 
and when these are over, he throws by his sword 
and mingles in the quiet duties of private life. Such 
was the spirit and principle of the men of the revo- 
lution ; and General Pierce went on to the battle 
fields of Mexico with the same idea with which his 
father before him went to Bunker Hill. Those who 
can present such a record, establish a valid claim on 
the candor of their countrymen ; and the latter will 
not unmoved see wanton aspersions cast on their 
fair fame." 



The following letter from Colonel Smith, of ^N"ew- 
Hampshire, a gentleman distinguished by his ser- 
vices to Americans in Mexico, during the invasion 
of that country by our army, contains valuable tes- 
timony in reference to the conduct of General 
Pierce, on the 19th and 20th of August, and 8th of 
September : 



CAMPAIGN IN MEXICO. 167 

" Gilmardon, JSf. II, June 24, 1852. 
"You are probably aware that at the commence- 
ment of the war with Mexico, I had been more than 
fifteen years a resident of the city of the Aztecs. 
During the war I was twice expelled from the city, 
the suspicions of the government having been awa- 
kened, and its displeasure incurred in consequence 
of the manner in which I treated Major Gaines, 
Major Borland and the other Encarnacion prisoners. 
Immediately after the second order for my expul- 
sion, desiring to control my own movements, I made 
my escape, passed the mountains in two nights, 
on horseback, having bribed a famous guerilla chief, 
Colin, who accompanied me with five of his despe- 
rate associates. I carried despatches from to 

General Scott, then at Puebla, which I delivered at 
four o'clock in the morning, and afterwards contin- 
ued with the noble commander, he availing himself 
of my minute knowledge of the country, until I 
again entered the city with the American army. I 
arrived at Puebla two days before General Pierce's 
brigade arrived there, and was never prouder of my 
country, and never so proud of my native state, as 
when that fine command marched into the city. 
All balconies were crowded, and such a reinforce- 
ment spread general joy through the army. The 
circumstances of the march — the energetic, prudent 
and skillful manner in which it had been per- 
formed — the daring courage manifested by the 
commander, particularly in crossing the National 



168 LIFE OF FRANKLIN 11EEC S. 

Bridge, when his hat was shot from his head — were 
of course the subjects of much conversation, and se- 
cured for General Pierce high admiration and entire 
confidence. And these, I may safely say, were 
never abated during the campaign. 

"I do not propose to give you details of that cam- 
paign, but to state some facts within my own 
knowledge in relation to the operations of the 19th 
and 20th of August, and the 8th of September. On 
the 19th August I was at St. Augustine, about 
seven miles from Contreras. Pierce's brigade 
marched out early to open the road across the 
mountain for the artillery, which followed that 
afternoon. I did not see General Pierce again till 
near noon the next day. I had been with General 
Scott's staff all the morning of the 20th, and had 
heard of the dangerous injury General Pierce had 
sustained by the fall of his horse on the pedregal, 
the afternoon before. The horse was supposed to 
have caught his fore foot in the cleft of a rock, being 
at a hard gallop. The preservation of the life of the 
General, seems here, as at the National Bridge, to 
have been providential. Although the bones of the 
horse were broken, so that he was left upon the spot, 
the tenacity with which the rider held to his com- 
mand during that day and the next, was the wonder 
of all. He rode, during the residue of that evening, 
the horse of the gallant Lieutenant Johnson, who 
had just been shot in his saddle. 

" I met General Pierce on the 20th, near Cava- 



CAMPAIGN IN MEXICO. 169 

can ; General Twigg's division had advanced on 
the road towards the church at Churubusco, and 
when I met Pierce, the heavy firing of the batteries 
had opened. I shall never forget his appearance, as 
he rode at the head of that noble brigade, destined 
to suffer so terribly in the afternoon. He was ex- 
ceedingly thin, worn down by the fatigue and pain 
of the day and night before, and then evidently suf- 
fering severely. Still there was a glow in his eye 
as the cannon boomed, that showed w T ithin him a 
spirit ready for the conflict. 

" The brigade was soon formed on the west side of 
the plaza of Coyacan, opposite the church. I was 
familiar with all the roads and paths in that neigh- 
borhood, and informed General Scott, who was in 
his saddle, under a tree, near the church, from which 
he was issuing orders to different members of his 
staff, that I knew a route by which the enemy could 
be attacked in rear. Having decided at once to 
send Pierce's brigade, and to support it by other 
troops that might be at his command, he despatched 
me to call General Pierce. I did so ; and when he 
rode up, a conversation, in substance, and as near 
as I can recollect, in the following words took 
place : 

" General Scott said : c Pierce, my dear fellow, 
you are badly injured — you are not fit to be in your 
saddle.' ' Yes, I am,' said Pierce, ' in a case like 
this.' General Scott said : ' It is temerity ; we 
shall lose yon, and cannot spare yon. I ought to 



170 LIFE OF FEAXKLIN PIERCE. 

/ 

order you back to St. Augustine. You cannot touch 
your foot to the stirrup.' 'I can, one of them,' 
said Pierce, ' and that is enough for to-day. This 
will be the last great fight, and I must lead my 
brigade.' The order was then given, I acting as 
guide, by the direction of General Scott, Major Lee, 
of the engineer corps, accompanying the command. 
The brigade moved rapidly forward for about a mile, 
when we came to a ditch, as I recollect, ten or twelve 
feet wide, and six or eight deep. Pierce was lifted 
from his saddle, and as if to tread upon impossibili- 
ties, he lead the brigade, then under fire, in his 
crippled condition, for a considerable distance on 
foot, when he fell from exhaustion and suffering, 
too great even for his energies. He refused to be 
carried from the field, and remained until the final 
rout of the enemy. More inflexible determination 
and daring courage, I do not believe was ever ex- 
hibited upon a battle field. 

" On the night before the battle of Molino del Rey, 
General Pierce's brigade was at the hacienda of 
San Borjia, about one mile from Tacubaya, where 
it had been held from the earliest dawn under arms. 
You know how General Worth's most gallant divis- 
ion suffered. The carnage on the field was dread- 
ful. General Scott despatched me to accompany 
my friend, Major Gaines, with an order for General 
Pierce to advance. They were ready on an instant, 
and moved rapidly forward. I was upon the field 
and witnessed Pierce's fine movement upon the 



CAMPAIGN IN MEXICO. 171 

King's Mill, to relieve Colonel Garland, who had 
been fighting to that hour. He advanced with the 
ninth infantry, (and, as I recollect, second artillery, 
not of his brigade proper.) The enemy whose fire 
had nearly ceased, upon the movement of these new 
regiments, re-opened with round shot and shell from 
Chepultepec. I well remember that the bay horse 
which the General took from the States, became, 
under fire, difficult to manage, and was well nigh 
plunging over a precipice close by the King's Mill, 
at the bridge, in consequence of the bursting of a 
shell, but a few feet from him. Nothing could have 
been more cool and admirable, than this whole 
movement. 

"I made the acquaintance of General Pierce, 
thousands of miles from our native land, under cir- 
cumstances that ' tried men's souls.' I found him 
there, what all know him to be here, and I 
cannot withhold this act of justice from one who 
has as brave a heart, and as self-sacrificing a spirit, 
as ever warmed a true man's bosom. 1 know Gen- 
eral Pierce needs no vindication of his military 
conduct. His merit in this respect is proclaimed 
by the united voice officers and men — those who 
participated and who know. But at the same time 
he may not be displeased with these hasty reminis- 
cences from me. I have been so long from the 
country, that I feel but little interest in mere party 
conflicts. Your obedient servant, 

NOAH E. SMITH." 



172 LIFE OF FEANEXESr PIERCE. 

In closing our brief sketch of General Pierce's 
military career in Mexico, we will adduce a few of 
the many testimonials, from the pens of distinguish- 
ed personages, in his favor. We do this partly be- 
cause of the base attempt, on the part of some of his 
political enemies, to traduce his military character. 

Here is an extract from the letter of an officer in 
the ninth regiment, to his friends at home : 

" I am sorry he is going, as I don't know of a man 
who would do better for the men under his com- 
mand, or one that the soldiers would like so well. 
Bravery goes a great way toward making a man res- 
pected in the army and Gen. Pierce has as good a rep- 
utation for that, as even his immediate commander, 
General Pillow. I imagine I can see him now up- 
on that black horse at Contreras. He gave us a 
word or two as we filed past, in a shower of shot and 
shells, in return for which we gave him a cheer. I 
saw him too, at Cherubusco, notwithstanding he 
was hardly able to sit on his horse, with the bullets 
flying round him." 

Extract of a letter from C. F. Low, dated Mexico, 
Dec, 1847: 

" To my great surprise I find that General Pierce 
will leave to-morrow, with the train for Vera Cruz. 
He has borne himself with great honor and useful- 
ness as a general officer. It is said of him here, 
that after the terrible battles of the valley of Mex- 
ico, he visited the wounded and dying soldier, and 



HIS RETURN FROM MEXICO. 173 

with an untiring vigilance and open hand administer- 
ed, without stint or measure, to the alleviation of 
their sufferings. We all regret, especially those of 
us from New-England, his purpose to retire from 
the service." 

A letter in the Boston Courier, dated Mexico, 
Dec, 13th, 1847, says : 

" General Pierce has only been in the army du- 
ring the present campaign, but in the course of that 
time has deservedly become one of the most popu- 
lar men in Mexico." 

The JSTew-Orleans Picayune, (whig) thus speaks 
of him: 

" Gen. Pierce. — This gentleman arrived here yes- 
terday in the New-Orleans, and we see it announced 
with regret in the papers from Mexico, that he in- 
tends resigning his commission. During the short 
time he has been in the service no officer has more 
distinguished himself by- his promptitude, energy, 
and courage, and we hope that the report may prove 
unfounded." 

From the New-Orleans Delta : 

" To enumerate all the gallant officers who came 
over in the New-Orleans, and to notice in proper 
terms their several claims to the praise and honor 
of their countrymen, would fill up an entire paper. 
We cannot, however, omit to notice some of this 
gallant delegation from our invincible army, whose 
names and history are most familiar to us. Among 



174: LIFE OF FRANKLIN PIERCE. 

those we regret to perceive the name of General 
Pierce. We say ' regret,' because we are informed 
that his return here is in fulfillment of a determina- 
tion to resign his command in the army. He has 
been forced to this determination by considerations 
of a private nature. The commander-in-chief, and 
the whole army, and especially his own brigade, 
deeply regret his resignation, and parted from him 
with great sorrow." 

The American Star, published in the city of Mex- 
ico, gives the following just notice of his character 
and services : 

" Brigadier-General Pierce. — Among the distin- 
guished officers of the American army, who return 
to the United States, with the train which leaves 
the city to-day, is Brigadier-General Franklin Pierce, 
of ^ew-Hampshire. The Americans in the city 
will deeply regret the departure of this accomplish- 
ed gentleman and officer, and certain we are that 
their best wishes for his future happiness will go 
with him. It is General Pierce's gentlemanly bear- 
ing, his urbane and republican manners, which have 
made him so great a favorite with both officers and 
men. It is his purpose, we believe, to resign the 
place which he now occupies in the army, immedi- 
ately upon his return to his residence. Like others 
of different grades attached to the army, he left the 
endearments of home at the call of the Govern- 
ment, to participate in the battles of his country. 



HIS RETURN FROM MEXICO. 175 

He left, also, a lucrative profession, which none oth- 
er than a patriotic motive could have induced him to 
relinquish. The sacrifice, however, was most cheer- 
fully met. General Pierce has won a high reputa- 
tion in the United States for his courage and brave- 
ry, as every paper that reaches us bears evidence. 
He left Yera Cruz in the middle of July, with one 
of the largest reinforcements for General Scott, and 
the most extensive trains that have left that city 
since its bombardment. 

" In the several battles before the city, General 
Pierce's brigade behaved most nobly, as all our 
readers are well aware, and the General conducted 
himself most gallantly at Contreras, Churubusco and 
Molino del Rey, though, in the first named action, 
he sustained a severe injury, by a plunge and fall 
of his horse among the rocks of Padierna. During 
the storm of Chepultepec, he was confined to his 
room by indisposition, or he would have been charg- 
ing with his men over the precipitous heights where 
his gallant friend, the lamented Pansom, fell. But 
though General Pierce has thus honorably distin- 
guished himself, he is not ambitious of retaining his 
high position in the service, and thus acquiring 
distinction in the army. He prefers the quieter and 
gentler pursuits of professional life, and we know 
that he will be welcomed to his pleasant home in 
Xew-England with hearts as warm as ever beat in 
the human bosom. He will return to his native 
hills with new laurels, and with the prayers of all that 



176 LIFE OF FRANKLIN PIERCE. 

he may long live to enjoy the company and society 
of those who are dear to him. Many fears, since 
his departure from New-England, have been ex- 
pressed in the public papers and private letters, that 
General Pierce had either fallen a vitcim to the cli- 
mate of the tierre caliente, or under the guns of the 
enemy. His friends and relatives, however, are 
now assured of his safety and health, and they will 
greet him with as warm a welcome as an honored 
son of New-England ever received. Happiness go 
with him." 

The following letter to the Editors of the Louis- 
ville Democrat^ from Cassius M. Clay, we doubt 
not, speaks the sentiments of every man in the 
army who was acquainted with General Pierce. 
Mr. Clay could surely have no other motive but to 
do him justice : 

" White Hull P. a, July 18, 1848. 
" Eds. Democrat : In your paper of the 5th inst., 
your correspondent c C represented the Hon. Gar- 
ret Davis as naming General Pierce as one of the 
i bad ' appointments of President Polk. I know 
that in the heat of debate, party expressions are fre- 
quently used, not intended to have the effect which 
they necessarily have when put in print. And from 
the Hon. G. Davis' usual character of fairness, I am 
willing to award to him no desire to injure the char- 
acter of any gallant officer for political ends. But 
whatever may be the designs of others, I take 



HIS RETTTKN FROM MEXIO®. 177 

pleasure, in addition to the official reports in regard 
to General Pierce, to say that there was but one 
opinion of General Pierce, so far as I learned, among 
the officers of all parties in Mexico. There was 
complaint of < bad ' appointments by the President 
--bad, not only by putting civilians over old sol- 
diers of the regular army, but bad <p&> se> — but of 
these, General Pierce was not one. No considera- 
tions ought ever to cause injustice to be done any 
one. As a political opponent, though personal 
friend, of General Pierce, my humble testimony to 
his high worth, intelligence and gallantry, can only 
be of the least consideration, because here in Ken- 
tucky, he is not well known, and therefore less hon- 
ored- Your obedient servant, 

C. M. CLAY. 

In December of this year, after it was fully ascer- 
tained that there would be no more fighting, Gen- 
eral Pierce returned home, and on resigning his 
commission at Washington, left for Concord. His 
reception by the people of Concord was most enthu- 
siastic. The people, though the day was a rainy 
one, came out by thousands. A committee was ap- 
pointed to conduct General Pierce into the Town 
Hall, where Gen. Low presided. He was accom- 
panied by his aid, Lieut. T. P. Pierce. When he 
had entered the hall, Gen. Low arose and spoke as 
follows : 



178 LIFE OP FRANKLIN PIERCE. 



GEN. LOW'S SPEECH. 



H Fellow Citizens : You have not come here to- 
day to hear me speak, but to listen to the tones of 
him whom you have so often heard with pleasure 
and delight. You have come to unite in a patriotic 
and grateful service ; not to discuss any of the great 
political subject of the day, or the fitness of this or 
that man for public office. Ours is the more agree- 
able duty of paying the tribute of respect and grat- 
itude to the gallant soldier who has fought the bat- 
tles of our country upon the blood-stained fields of 
Mexico, and to tender to him our thanks for his ser- 
vices, also to express our thanks for the servi- 
ces of the brave men whom he has led in those 
actions. Of the high motives, of the profound 
sense of honor from which he acted, I can bear 
witness. After I had been informed that he had 
accepted a commission as colonel of the New- 
England regiment, I took the liberty of asking him if 
it was true that he had decided to sunder the tender 
ties of husband, father, and give up the peaceful en- 
joyments and comforts ot home, which he possessed 
in such an eminent degree. He replied — ' I have ac- 
cepted of the commission. I could do no otherwise. 
I was pledged to do it. When I left the Senate, it 
w T as with a fixed purpose of devoting myself exclu- 
sively to my profession, with the single reservation, 
that if my country should become engaged in war, I 
would ever hold myself in readiness to serve her in 



RECEPTION ON HIS RETURN. 179 

the field, if called upon to defend her honor and 
maintain her rights. War has come, and my plight- 
ed word must and shall be redeemed.' He did re- 
deem his pledge. His commission of colonel was 
superseded by that of brigadier general, and he went 
forth with the sons of New England. Well we re- 
member how we followed him and his command in 
our minds, through the pestilential camp at Vera 
Cruz ; then step by step to the National Bridge and 
Jalapa, where a curtain, as it were, was shut down 
upon him and his brave band, and cut them off from 
our view. Every breeze, every whisper, every report 
which the po.er of lightning could waft to us, was 
sought with avidity. Great was the anxiety from 
the uncertainty that rested on the fate of our friends. 
But the curtain was lifted. The black cloud roll- 
ed away, and the battle field lay revealed to us. 
Then what admiration and astonishment did we 
feel ! There we beheld nine thousand troops driv- 
ing before them thirty thousand of the best aj)point- 
ed army ever raised in Mexico. They are pursued 
over ravines and artificial trenches, cut by the la- 
bors of a hundred thousand peons, by one small but 
gallant army, rushing online upon line, hill upon hill 
overwhelming redoubts, storming fortifications, cap- 
turing the capital of the enemy, and planting the 
flag of our country upon the principal palace. 
Here we see our friend triumphantly leading on his 
command. But this is not all we see of him. We 
behold the camp after the hour of battle has passed 



180 LIFH OF FRANKLIN PIERCS. 

away. "We behold it wrapped in the silence of 
night. We see the killed and the wounded, and 
we look for our friend. TVe find him passing unat- 
tended through the long line of tents, in which were 
to be seen the palid cheek and exhausted frame of 
the dying soldier. To minister to them is the busi- 
ness of his lonely rounds. He visits the tents ; he 
hears their last words, and receives their last mor- 
tal request, and expends upon them his last shil- 
ling to procure for them necessaries which they 
could not, in such a place, otherwise obtain. Is not 
such a son worthy of the State that gave him birth ? 
(Cheers) Turning to General Pierce, he continued : 
I can say no more sir. Your services are under- 
stood here ; and now, in the name of this meeting, 
and in my own behalf likewise, I bid you a hearty 
welcome home to your adopted town. And in the 
name of all the people in every town in this State, I 
congratulate you, upon your safe return to the cap- 
ital of your native State." 

GEN. PIERCE^ REPLY. 

General Pierce now advanced to the front of the 
platform to reply. He was evidently laboring with 
deep emotions, the nature of which could be well 
gathered from the tone and topics of his remarks. 
Although one of the most forcible and fluent speak- 
ers in the country, he on this occasion avoided every 
thing in the shape of speaking for effect. He talk- 
ed right out on matters which intensely interested 
his audienoe. 



SPEECH ON HIS RECEPTION. 181 

" He said, whatever had been his portion of the 
danger encountered or exposure endured, or the 
long sad days and sleepless nights of those he had 
left behind, none of which would have occurred to 
him but for the remarks of the President, he had 
been more than compensated by the reception he 
had met, setting aside the consciousness of duty 
performed. lie felt an embarrassment in addressing 
the meeting that he could hardly account for. He 
felt profoundly grateful to that Being, who not only 
watches over the nations of the earth, but over the 
welfare of the humblest individual. He did not 
take to himself the honor of attracting such a nu- 
merous and excited assembly as stood before and 
around him. The gathering was on account of the 
great number of their gallant sons, brothers, and 
friends, that had formed a part of his command. 
They had come to hear not only of those who live, 
but of those who, having displayed their devotion 
to their country, now repose on a foreign soil. A 
set speech to an audience actuated by the feelings 
which he perceived, would be altogether out of 
place. It would be a sort of desecration to attempt 
any display on such occasions. Upon the main topic 
which they must be anxious to hear about, he could 
not frame a set speech. They wanted to hear of the 
Ninth regiment, the glorious New-England regi- 
ment, which was assembled in such hot haste, and 
in such hot haste met the enemy. There was not a 
generous or just man in the State who had n# pro- 
9 



182 MFE OF FEAKKLIN PIEKCE. 

nounced in favor of their motives. Laying aside 
all the ties of home, and the fair promises of youth 
and its enjoyments, and suffering the partings which 
press the life-blood from out young hearts, they re- 
sponded to their country's call, with a high moral 
purpose that could not be exceeded. During the 
three weeks at Yera Cruz, caused by a want of 
mules and'* ; wagons for transportation — a delay ag- 
gravated by wide-spread sickness — he never heard a 
murmur from a soldier under his command. A more 
cheerful set of lads they could not have been if they 
had been at home by their own happy firesides. 
Their subsequent exploits had been read in the offi- 
cial reports. He would not detail them. On the 
march, in the fight, everywhere, one predominant 
feeling animated them. The question was not, who 
should be ordered forward ; but which corps should 
be allowed to go forward first. The only dispute 
was upon claims to be first led against the enemy. 
At night they were cheerful in their tents, and 
longing for the morning, which should bring with 
it the order to move forward to battle. New- Hamp- 
shire had no occasion for any other feeling than that 
of pride in regard to her sons who belonged to the 
command. They had proved themselves brave, de- 
voted, self-sacrificing spirits. And Concord, too, 
was well represented among them. There was 
Henry Caldwell, one of the bravest and most deter- 
mined soldiers in the army. There was sergeant 
Stowellj who was shot, plump through the heart, at 



SPEECH ON HIS RECEPTION. 183 

Churubusco. As bis last breath flowed he whispered 
to me — 'Do the boys say I behaved well? if I 
have, write home to my people.' Then there was 
sergeant Pike, who had his leg shot off in advancirg 
along on a causeway swept by three batteries. Two 
amputations, which did not answer the purpose, 
were performed, and a third was deemed hopeless. 
Die he must, it was thought. ' I know better than 
they do,' be said. ' I'll try another ; and when they 
cut it again I hope they will cut it so that it will 
stay cut.' A third amputation was performed, and 
he lived through it. He and the others named were 
printers. In the new levies, the printers exceed by 
twenty per cent, those of any other vocation ; and 
on account of their intelligence and high spirit they 
have proved the most efficient soldiers in the field. 
" General Pierce also named Brown and Swett, of 
Concord, as particularly distinguished ; and Cap- 
tain Cady and Lieuts. Potter and Dana, of the old 
line. jSTor did he forget sergeant West, of Man- 
chester, who fell at the head of his column ; and 
was always there when there was any fighting to be 
done. But in mentioning the men of New-Hamp- 
shire, or of New-England, he would claim for them 
no superiority over others. The present army was 
made up of artillery, cavalry, the old army, and the 
new levies, representing every State of the Union, 
and it was not in the power of man to say which 
had done the best service. To many it had been 
matter of great surprise that the new levies had 



184: LIFE OF FRANKXm PIERCE. 

fought as they had done. But it is in the race. He 
would take from the audience before him a rea*i- 
ment who would do the same. In executing ma- 
noeuvres and in forming combinations in front of an 
enemy, by wheeling, countermarching, &c, old 
soldiers are undoubtedly better; but when it came 
to close fighting, as in storming or charging, it was 
the man that did the work, and not the manceuver- 
ing ; and in such work, the men who had never be- 
fore been under fire or handled a bayonet, stood 
well side by side with the long trained soldiers. 
Another cause of the success of our troops, new and 
old, was the conduct of the officers, who, from the 
highest to the lowest, led and cheered on their col- 
umns. Hence the disprojDortion in the loss of offi- 
cers and men. Hence the loss of that most brave 
and accomplished of officers of the ten new regi- 
ments — Colonel Ransom. He kept pressing up — 
pressing up — till he was shot dead at the head of 
his column. The same was true of Colonel Martin 
Scott, the first shot in the army — a son of New- 
Hampshire. He raised himself above the protection 
of a wall. A brother officer begged him not to ex- 
pose himself unnecessarily. He replied — 'Martin 
Scott has never yet stooped.' The next moment a 
shot passed through his heart. He fell upon his 
back, deliberately placed his cap upon his breast 
and died. Colonel Graham, after receiving six se- 
vere wounds, continued at the head of his men, and 
upon receiving a seventh through the heart, slowly 



SPEECH COT HIS RECEPTION. 185 

dropped from his horse, and as he fell upon the 
ground, said — 'Forward, my men! — my word is 
always — forward !' And so saying, he died. 

"Having referred to Lieutenants Foster and Dan- 
iels, and to several officers of the old army, General 
Pieice proceeded to say, he had to retract opinions 
he had formerly entertained and expressed, in rela- 
tion to the Military Academy, at West Point. He 
was now of the opinion that the city of Mexico 
could not have been entered in the way it was, 
but for the intelligence and science in Military 
Affairs, of the officers of the old army, mostly from 
West Point. Services were rendered by the officers 
of the topographical engineers and ordnance, which 
could not have been rendered, but by men who had 
received the most complete military education. 
The force of the Americans had been overrated. 
Only 7,500 effective men left Puebla to attack a 
city of 250,000 inhabitants, defended by 35,000 of 
the best troops ever raised in Mexico, 100 pieces of 
cannon, and the finest fortifications ever raised, in 
addition to the natural defences of marshes and 
lakes. 

" In conclusion, he said he was not here to dis- 
cuss any matters of controversy, but to meet his 
friends. Yet the subject of war was necessarily 
presented to their consideration by the occasion. 
Before entering i:i it, it was his belief that the war 
had been irresistibly pressed upon us. If he had 
doubted before, conversations he had had with the 



186 LIFE OP FRANKLIN PIERCE. 

most intelligent Mexicans, would have confirmed 
him in the opinion that the war was unavoidable 
on onr part. Four of the Mexican commissioners 
were in favor of the propositions submitted bj Mr. 
Trist, but they were overawed by threats and dem- 
onstrations of the mob in Mexico, stimulated by 
opponents to the then existing government. Even 
now the puros will go to the last extremity against 
a peace. They say it is the first time within the 
last twenty years, that they have been under any 
protection. They are in favor of merging the na- 
tionality of Mexico in that of the United States. 
They say they care nothing for a nationality which 
has afforded them no protection in either civil or 
political rights. Their rights are protected by 
American arms. 

" Again, the course a very large number of the 
public presses in the United States has pursued, has 
created obstacles to peace. Mexican papers are 
filled with articles and sjDeeches from the United 
States, denouncing the war on our part, and justify- 
ing Mexico. The Mexican editors publish them 
with the remark that nothing remains to be added 
by them, to make out the justice of their course 
towards the United States. On the same day that 
lie saw in a Jalapa paper a whole page of extracts 
from American papers, he saw stuck up on the trees, 
the proclamation of General Salas to the guerillas, 
ending with the watchword — 'Death to the Yan- 
kees, without mercy.' Thus was furnished from 



GEN. PIERCE AND GEN. SCOTT. 1S7 

our own country, the food which fed the ferocity 
that pursued the army at every turn, and caused 
the butchering of every soldier who fell into their 
hands. In the office of the Secretary in Mexico, 
extracts from American papers were found filed 
away in their pigeon holes. They had been used 
in framing their proclamations. 

" Should the Mexicans find the Americans stand- 
ing together on the question of the war, peace would 
follow almost instantaneously. An opportunity is 
now presented to make peace by strengthening the 
hands of President Ilerrera, and the peace party, 
who have obtained a majority in Congress." 

Having renewed his expressions of gratitude for 
his reception, General Pierce now sat down. 

To show the friendship which General Pierce has 
ever entertained for General Scott, we subjoin the 
following letter of his, to Colonel Greene, editor of 
the Boston Post. 

" Gen. Scott. It is now certain that Gen. Scott 
has been deprived of his command in Mexico. This 
is said to have been done on the recommendation 
of Gen. Pierce, who, doubtless, thinks Scott did not 
do him justice in his official reports. If the signs of 
the times are to be trusted, the people will deprive 
the men who have involved the country in the pres- 
ent infamous war, of their ill-used power, quite as 
summarily as James K. Polk, at the suggestion of 
Franklin Pierce, has deprived Gen. Scott of his 
command in Mexico." 



188 LIFE OF FRANKLIN PIERCE. 

"Lowell, Feb. I, 1848, 

" Dear Sir : The above paragraph was sent to 
me under cover of a blank envelop, without any 
indication of the paper from which it was clipped. 
If the article referred to myself alone, I should have 
allowed it to pass, as I have in other instances, with- 
out any notice from me. But having observed sim- 
ilar suggestions in other papers, it is perhaps due to 
the administration, and to the distinguished General 
from whom I am now widely separated, but to 
whom I hope ever to be united by sentiments of 
respect and personal friendship, that I furnish a cor- 
rection. The paragraph has not the slightest foun- 
dation in truth. I was never consulted by the 
national Executive in relation to the matter to which 
it refers. From the day my command joined the 
main army at Puebla, to the hour I left the city of 
Mexico, there was never a moment when the kind- 
est relations did not exist between the general-in- 
chief and myself ; and I trust I am not likely soon 
to forget, or lightly appreciate the confidence and 
friendship which, under all circumstances, he was 
pleased to extend to me. I need not say, that noth- 
ing can be more unpleasant, than for officers who 
have just returned from the seat of war, to find im- 
posed upon them, the necessity of contradicting 
statements so untruthful and indelicate. 
Your friend and servant, 

FRANK. PIERCE. 

Col. C. G. Greene, Editor of the Boston Post" 



HE IS PRESENTED WITH A SWOED. 189 

During this year, the State Legislature voted to 
General Pierce a splendid sword, as a token of their 
esteem of him as a man, c.nd of his gallantry as a 
soldier. We give a few extracts from his reply to 
the committee, who were delegated by the Legisla- 
ture, to present it to the General : 

u I accept this splendid weapon from the people 
of New-Hampshire, with an abiding sense of the 
personal regard which has never seemed to grow 
cold. May I not be permitted to say, without ref- 
erence to my political associations, that I receive it 
as one among multiplied evidences, so far as the 
men of my own time of life are concerned, of some- 
thing like a fraternal esteem and confidence, which 
it has been my highest purpose to merit, and is my 
firmest never to lose. In the mean time, I am not 
unmindful of another and higher consideration, 
which actuated the Legistatu.ie. The sword, though 
given to me, was designed and received as a token 
of the estimation in which you hold the services 
and sacrifices of the officers and soldiers of the brig- 
ade, which it was my good fortune to command ; 
and to them I would have the grateful thoughts of 
my friends turned to-day ; to the noble dead ; to 
the men who, with their life-blood, sealed their devo- 
tion to the rights and honor of the Kepublic ; to the 
gallant living, who, having fulfilled their mission 
amid the untried scenes of an eventful campaign on 
a foreign soil, are now unobtrusively and usefully 
pursuing the avocations of civil life at home. 
9* 






190 LIFE OF FRANKLIN PIERCE. 

" Your thoughts and purposes in this matter are 
not circumscribed by the limits of New-Hampshire 
or New-England. You embrace the 12th and 15th 
regiments, no less w T armly than the 9th. It will 
ever be a matter of gratification to me, that the three 
regiments of my brigade were composed of men 
from the extreme south, north and west of the 
Union, because it illustrated, in an hour of trial and 
danger, that unity which is our strength. The 
question never arose, during the varied scenes of 
that summer, on what side of a geographical line a 
man was born or reared ; he stood upon the field by 
your side, an American officer or an American sol- 
dier, with an American heart — and that w r as enough 
for any of us to know. It was a glorious brother- 
hood. The highest hope of patriotism looks to the 
permanence and all-pervading power of that feeling. 
It is the panoply under which, whatever is dear and 
precious in our institutions, will repose in security. 
Over it may the stars and stripes float forever !" 



THE RELIGIOUS TEST QUESTION. 101 



CHAPTER VIII. 

General Pierce on the Religious Test Question — His Speech — Let- 
ter to the Stark Monument Committee. 

General Pierce now devoted himself to the du- 
ties of his legal profession. About this time a State 
Constitutional Convention was held in New-Hamp- 
shire, to revise the Constitution, and General Pierce 
allowed himself to be elected a member of that 
body, by the citizens of Concord. The Convention 
met at Concord in November, 1850, and among its 
members were Ichabod Bartlett, Levi Woodbury, 
and Edmund Parker, and many other of the master 
minds of the State. It was, perhaps, the most dig- 
nified body which ever met in New-Hampshire, 
containing all the men of influence in both parties. 
General Pierce was elected President of the con- 
vention by a vote of 257 to 6. The course pursued 
by him at this convention constitutes an important 
portion of his life, inasmuch as in it he came out 
boldly for religious freedom. No sooner had the 
nomination of General Pierce to the Presidency be- 
come fairly known, than party j^resses at once be- 
gan to accuse him of approving the Religious Test 
which is a part of the Constitution of the State of 
New-Hampshire. This Test in theory excludes all 



192 LIFE OF FRAOTSXIN PIERCE. 

Catholics from office in the State, though, to a cer- 
tain extent, it has become obsolete, and a dead let- 
ter. From the first moment of his political life, 
General Pierce has been entirely opposed to this 
oclions clause in the Constitution. 

The present Constitution of New-Hampshire was 
formed in the year 1792, and has never since been 
altered. The legal method of amendment is first 
by a vote of the people to call a convention for that 
purpose ; second the adoption of amendments by 
such convention ; and third, the ratification of such 
proposed amendments hy a two-thirds vote of the 
people. Since General Fierce first entered upon the 
stage of public life, the question of the revision of 
the Constitution has seven or eight times come be- 
fore the people, and evay time he has used his in- 
fluence to secure said revision, and avowedly for 
the 'main purpose of abolishing the obnoxious and 
oppressive Religious Test. Every time, however, 
until 1850, the friends of a convention were de- 
feated. In 1850, every Democratic press in New- 
Hampshire advocated the calling of a convention 
to abolish all religious tests in the Constitution, and 
a convention was called by a vote of the people. 
The subjects of the Religious Test and Property 
Qualification were taken up at an early day. Such 
was General Pierce's anxietv to induce the con- 
vention to amend the Constitution in reference to 
the Religious Test, that he left the chair, and enter- 
ed the arena of debate. 



THE RELIGIOUS TEST QUESTION. 198 



On the fourth day of the session, November 11, 
the " Bill of Rights" being under consideration in 
committee of the whole, Judge Woodbury moved 
to strike out the word "protestant" in the sixth sec- 
tion, where it provides that the Legislature may 
authorize towns, parishes, &c, to make provision 
for the support " of public uprotestant teachers of 
piety, religion and morality." As there were other 
amendments to be proposed to this article, Judge 
"Woodbury withdrew his motion, and the article was 
passed over. At a subsequent stage of the pro- 
ceedings, as appears by record, General Pierce pro- 
posed to Judge Woodbury to renew the above 
motion, which he did ; and the word "protestant" 
was stricken out. The following is Judge Wood- 
bury's speech made on the occasion — one of the 
most convincing ever made upon a similar subject. 
We copy it here, because General Pierce's speech 
followed it, and is connected with it in a manner, 
as he refers to it in terms of great commendation : 

RELIGIOUS TESTS. 

On motion of Mr. Parker, of Nashua, the Con- 
vention resolved itself into the Committee of the 
Whole, on the report of the Committee on Property 
Qualifications and Religious Tests. (Mr. Sawyer, 
of Nashua, in the chair.) 

Religious Tests. — The first resolution striking out 
all religious tests, was taken up. 

Judge Woodbury, made the following remarks : 



194 LIFE OF FRANKLIN PIERCE. 

" Mr. Chairman : Being opposed to the test, that 
some of our principal offices shall not be filled, ex- 
cept by persons of the Protestant religion, I ask 
leave to offer a few reasons for it. I do it quite as 
much to vindicate our fathers, in part, for inserting 
it, as myself for resisting it. Constitutions, it is 
conceded, ought to be durable instruments, being 
the great fundamental laws passed by the people, 
and lasting at times, as ours has, without a shadow 
of a change for half a century ; yet I am willing, 
when a provision like this becomes hostile to the 
tolerant spirit of the age, and a more enlightened 
public opinion, to expunge it at once from our sys- 
tem of government. I do this too, the more readily 
at the present moment, in order to present another 
illustration to the world, how easily laws and even 
constitutions, where objectionable, can be changed 
and re-changed in this tree country without a resort 
to violence, and to measures treasonable to public 
liberty and the safety, as well as the best interest 
of our blessed Union. Nor is it that I oppose reli- 
gion, but support it lam neither deistic nor inno- 
vating rashly. 

" On a little examination, it will be found that 
this test crept into the constitution originally, under 
a temporary impulse, and without having any influ- 
ence on the affairs of the State, practically, as they 
then stood. This is the vindication of our fathers. 
"Tradition says — and I probably had it in early 
life, from the venerable parent of the member from 



THE RELIGIOUS TEST QUESTION. 195 

Epping, (Mr. Plumer) — that parent, the Nestor of 
the politicians of that generation, and sole survivor 
of the convention of 1791 — that the provision was 
inserted in 1784, to repel taunts which had been 
flung out by some, after the French alliance, that 
there was to be an alliance also with the French 
religion, and the establishment of it here. The pro- 
vision fell then still born — so few Catholics existed 

• in the State. But in 1791, the impropriety of re- 
taining it on principle became so manifest, that after 
one or two ineffectual efforts, the convention voted 
to erase it, and a majority of the people concurred 
with them ; yet not being quite two-thirds, the pro- 
vision remained, though against the will of a deci- 
ded majority. 

"The principle of the test was, even then, so 
odious, that, as Catholics increased since in the 
State, from a mere handful as then, another conven- 
tion would, I think, long ere this, have been called 
for expunging this alone, had they become numer- 
ous, or had the test been much more than a brutum 

fulmen, or used practically to oppress them. If any 
soreness against Catholic persecution of the Puri- 
tans abroad, mingled with this, and rendered preju- 
dices stronger with some against erasing the test, 
they ought, for more recent persecution by Laud 
and the Episcopalians in England, to have excluded 
them also. But it was right to exclude neither. 
Now, under more auspicious circumstances, we have, 
and I trust will, improve the opportunity to do 



196 LIFE OF FEANKLIN PIERCE. 

justice to all. There is now no dread of French 
influence or French religion. The rights of all 
Christians, at least to equal freedom and power, in 
our system of government, have become a practical 
question, and should of course be settled on broad, 
enlightened and humane principles. Fifty years, 
with their discussions and researches, and experi- 
ments, have poured a flood of light over the true 
nature of liberty of conscience, and all its great 
safeguards. Let us, then, do what our fathers them- 
selves would, if now living, under increased light 
and experience. 

" How does the question stand under republican 
jDrinciples of government ? By them constitutions 
and laws are made more to protect rights than to 
confer them. They are made for protecting liberty, 
equality, conscience, property and life, rather than 
to give most of these, or to establish any particular 
set of religious opinions. This is not, that religion 
is a minor concern, and not in some view the great- 
est for an immortal being, but rather that religion 
is a concern between God and man, and seldom to 
be interfered with by governments. Such intoler- 
ant interferance has caused oceans of blood to flow, 
and millions to perish at the stake, and was one of 
the great causes which expelled our fathers to a 
wilderness and the mercy of savage foes. The re- 
publican government afterwards established here, 
should, if true to republican principles, shield all 
in their religious tenets while conducting peacefully, 



THE RELIGIOUS TEST QUESTION. 197 

and protect all in their pursuits and worship, how- 
ever different, while acting as good citizens, or it 
becomes suicidal, and, like despotism, persecutes 
differences of opinions, and introduces the grossest 
irregularities. 

" How does the question stand on the principles 
of our bill of rights \ 

" It is forced to admit that each sect should enjoy, 
and it does now enjoy here, the privilege to hold 
property. If to hold that, why not protect by laws 
which each helps to make - ? It concedes to each 
sect the right to sue for injuries to character, for 
injuries to children and wife, and to worship God 
in freedom. "Why not, then, let them aid in legis- 
lating to protect all these ? You hold out the husk, 
but withdraw the kernel. You allow firearms, but 
neither gunpowder nor lead to load them, and 
make them effective. In the bill of rights, you 
pledge also to all sects equality, but afterwards by 
this test, you make all but Protestants unequal. 
You will promise entire freedom of conscience to all, 
and treat it in the 4th article as so high a privilege, 
as not to be in any way unalienable, and yet you 
leave others than Protestants defenceless as to it, 
by disfranchising them from filling offices to secure 
it by legislation. 

" It is contrary to the Declaration of Independ- 
ence, and of the very first article in your bill of 
rights, declaring all men equal. You do not thus 
give to all men equal privileges. It is also in the 



198 LIFE OF FRANKLIN PIERCE. 

teetli of the same bill of rights, to say one sect shall 
not be subordinate to another, and still disfranchise 
one, or let one hold offices forbidden to others. It 
is likewise contrary to all sound experience and 
reason to say, as we do, that Catholics may vote, 
but net be voted for ; and that they may be well 
competent for one duty and not the other. So it is 
inconsistent to say, as we do, that they may be 
jurors or judges, yet not legislators — or agree, as 
we do in the Constitution of the Union, that Cath- 
olics may be fit and safe for members of Congress, 
Senators, Cabinet Officers, yea, Presidents, and yet 
denounce them as unfit and unsafe at home, to rep- 
resent one hundred and fifty polls in one of our 
small townships. It is, in truth, much like the great 
grievance which led to our Revolution — taxation 
without representation. All other than Protestant 
sects are virtually deprived of representation, as they 
are made ineligible to the Legislature. Their opin- 
ions and w T ishesare unheard there, from themselves. 
They are branded. They are driven forth as with 
the mark of Cain, for servitude and ignominy. 

Why not as well explicitly say — and not doit 
covertly — that none but Protestants are fit for a 
republic ? Why not say that Catholic Maryland is 
unfit ? — Catholic Hungary ? — Catholic Ireland ? — 
Catholic France ? Why halt at half-way measures ? 
Why not say it is a mere creed in religious faith, 
and not the mind, heart, morals, which renders men 
suita ble for self-government ? or that we establish 



THE KELIGI0T7S TEST QUESTION. 199 

government for the former alone, and not to secure 
liberty, character, property and life? 

Indeed, this test debars man from what we allow 
to the degraded African, as he is eligible here to 
hold office as well as to vote. It seems often to have 
been overlooked ; likewise that these tests are re- 
straints or chains on those who make them, as well 
as on others. The Protestant himself cannot now 
vote here for a Catholic any more than a Catholic 
vote for one, though the candidate may be on all 
hands confessedly the best qualified man for State 
Representative, Senator, or Governor. 

If urged that the power to make such tests in con- 
stitutions exist, it is no argument for the moral and 
political right to do it than it is because we have the 
naked power, that we have also the moral and po- 
litical right to unite Church and State, create an in- 
quisition, or, having stripped, other sects of the 
privilege to hold office, to go further, and rob them 
of equal rights to earth, air, fire, and water, and 
the same hopes and means for happiness, both in 
time and eternity. One profession alone in business 
might, on a like ground, be admitted to sit in the 
Legislature — such as merchants or lawyers. While 
the present test continues, it is with an ill grace we can 
call other countries bigoted, who, like England have 
emancipated the Catholics, and made contributions 
for their education. All the former fears as to their 
numbers or political principle's have now become 
groundless. In most Catholic countries Jesuitism is 



200 LIFE OF FRANKLIN PIERCE. 



banished, and the inquisition abolished, and the 
Pope himself has become quite a reformer and re- 
publican, and Catholics generally are not believed 
in morals or the religious sentiment to be behind 
the age, or the true standard for public liberty. 
"What other sect shall throw at them the first stone ? 
"What one vindicate the present exclusion, and not 
admit that if other than Protestant sects had a ma- 
jority here, these last should not also be stripped of ] 
power % and that our ancestor's complaints of pen- 
alties and disfranchisements were ill founded ? It 
is doing what we have always censured in others. 
The error is that this exclusion concedes in principle, 
that religion is to be regulated by a majority rather 
than the sincere conviction and conscience of each 
individual ; that only certain sects are. moral and 
intelligent enough to exercise political power, which 
is fallacious and false under our forms of free schools 
and universal education ; or that reason and Provi- 
dence cannot uphold correct principles without our 
feeble aid and our proscriptions ; and that Deity or 
his adorable Son need persecution of some sects to 
sustain and render triumphant pure religion. So, if 
it be insisted that one denomination must be better 
and more trustworthy than the rest — which may 
as well be done even among Protestants — why not 
trust to that one alone and proscribe all the rest, 
though Protestant ? Which shall be that special 
favorite ? So, which one profession shall, under a 
like system, rub ? 



THE KELIGIOTTS TEST QUESTION. 201 

" What sect do Sidney, or Locke, or Jefferson, 
or Madison think fit to be trusted with legislative 
power ? How is this, too, in our neighboring repub- 
lics ? Do they thus ostracise a part % On the con- 
trary, they had the experience of the Revolution to 
aid them — by the Catholic Carrols and Lafayettes 
being moral and brave as the most Puritanical — ■ 
and many others of that creed have fought side by 
side with us since at Chippewa and Bridgewater, 
and under the walls of Mexico, and shown that 
their creed is not deserving proscription. In short, 
without going further into the question now, it seems 
to my mind not only unjust to other sects, but not 
reputable to us as a people, or to the age in which 
we live, to retain this test longer. 

• •••■••• • 

u Without fatiguing the convention with more on 
this occasion, I will only add that considerations 
like these have led to the abolition of such tests in 
many other of our sister States, and in the Constitu- 
tion of the United States, and in my view, require 
us to imitate their wise example." 

General Pierce now rose, and made the following 
brief but able remarks. We copy from the rec- 
ord : 

" Mr. Pierce, of Concord, said that he could con- 
cur heartily in all that the gentleman from Ports- 
mouth had uttered, except in his last remark. It 
was quite obvious that, so far from having taxed the 
patience of the committee, his speeches upon both 



202 LITE OF FRANKLIN PIERCE. 

the great subjects embraced in the resolutions un- 
der consideration had been listened to with unqual- 
ified gratification. Not because he threw the weight 
of his high character and the power of his argu- 
ments into the scale on the side of right in a case 
where there was hesitancy — where the judgment 
of members was not definitely formed — where there 
was a shade of doubt as to the result; but because 
it was desirable that the grounds on which we pro- 
ceed in matters of such grave import should be sta- 
ted, as they had been, with singular force of 
reasoning and beauty of illustration. It was also a 
service well rendered, not less in vindication of the 
past than the present. The motives of the fathers of 
the present Constitution and of the people in 1792, 
had been placed in their true light. So much was 
due to them. It was also due to this convention, 
and the people whom they represent, and due to 
the reputation of the State abroad, that it will be 
well understood that both of the provisions — the 
religious test and the property qualification — had 
been a dead letter, at least as long as the chairman 
(Mr. Sawyer) had participated to any extent in the 
councils of the State. They had been practically 
inoparative from Mr. P's earliest recollection. The 
chairman would remember that many years ago, at 
a time of high party excitement, it was suggested 
that a member of the House of Representatives oc- 
cupied his seat without the requisite property quali- 
fication. But two objections at once occurred to 



THE RELIGIOUS TEST QUESTION. 203 

any action noon the subject : the first was, that in- 
vestigation and action, instead of rejecting one 
member, might probably vacate twenty seats ; the 
second was, that no member could probably be 
found to move in the matter so utterly repugnant to 
public sentiment. 

"The religious test in the Constitution had unde- 
niably been astigna upon the S:a'e, at h^ina and 
abroad. It had been repeatedly named to him, and 
once at least in a foreign land, as unworthy of the 
intelligent and liberal spirit of our countrymen. 
Although he at times felt keenly the reproach, he 
had uniformly referred, as he had no doubt other 
gentlemen had doii3, to other parts of the Constitu- 
tion as illustrating the true and free spirit of our 
fathers, and to these as, at least for many years, a 
blank. The great question of religious toleration 
was practically settled, and settled in a manner nev- 
er to be reversed while we retain our present form 
of government, more than thirty years ago. The 
provisions now claiming the attention of the com- 
mittee could hardly be said to involve an open ques- 
tion. They had been the subject of discussion in 
every lyceum, every academy, debating club, every 
town ; and there was perhaps no subject upon which 
public opinion and public feeling was so uniform and 
decisive. The substance — if substance they ever 
had — having long since passed away, he rejoiced 
that the proper occasion had at length arrived to 
dispense with the form." 



204 LIFE OF FRANKLIN PIERCE. 

To make the further history of this important 
matter clear, we quote from the pen of Mr. Butter- 
field, of the Concord Patriot, one of the most im- 
portant men in New-Hampshire : 

" The resolutions abolishing the religious test and 
property qualifications were unanimously agreed to 
in committee ; and the committee then rose and re- 
ported them to the convention. The question was 
taken at once, in the convention, on the adoption of 
the resolution striking out the religious test, and it 
was adopted, only seven members voting against it. 

" The convention made a great number of amend- 
ments to the Constitution — 'making almost an entire 
new one, in fact. Changes of a very important 
character, relating to the basis of representation, 
the judiciary, &c. &c, which the people never ex- 
pected, were made. These, and the great length 
and expense of the session, rendered the conven- 
tion rather unpopular, and the opposition press 
seized upon these facts to prejudice the convention 
and its doings, in the minds of the people, holding 
the Democratic party responsible for the whole. 
The consequence was, that when the amendments 
were submitted to the people, thus prejudiced 
against them and their authors, in advance, the 
whole were rejected together. They were acted 
upon at the annual meetings, when other matters 
engrossed the minds of the people, and not much 
more than half of the voters of the State voted upon 
them. 



THE EELIGIOTTS TEST QUESTION. 205 

"The convention met again in April, 1851, to 
receive the verdict of the people upon their doings. 
A large portion of the members were in favor of 
adjourning at once, without submitting any further 
propositions to the people. But Judge Woodbury 
and General Pierce strenuously urged that the sense 
of the people should again be taken upon stri- 
king out the odious tests in question. Some of 
the leading federal members opposed this as an in- 
sult to the people ; but the majority were prevailed 
upon to try the question again. Accordingly, they 
were again submitted, at the last annual election. 
The result was just what was anticipated. In the 
bustle and excitement of a most fiercely contested 
election, with the ]3rejudice excited against the con- 
vention by the opposition press, but about a third 
part of the voters acted upon them ; and they were 
again rejected. 'No man of candor and intelligence 
will contend that this was a deliberate expression 
of the sentiments of the people of this State upon 
the question of religious toleration. Those senti- 
ments were expressed thirty years ago, when the 
Taleration act was passed — an act whose spirit is 
in direct opposition to this test. Everybody admits 
that no expression of their sentiments upon the mer- 
its of the question under consideration, has yet 
been obtained. The vote in most towns was taken 
at a most exciting political contest, after the princi- 
pal business of interest to the mass of voters had been 
done, and the larger proportion of them had left for 

10 



206 LIFE OF FRANKLIN PIEECE. 

their homes ; and it is a libel upon the people of 
New-Hampshire to represent this as a deliberate 
expression of their views upon the great question 
of religions freedom oncl equality. 

"Something has been said in the papers in regard 
to the degree of responsibility which attaches to the 
two parties for this result. All we have to say upon 
this point is, that for more than twenty years, the 
federal press and leaders unitedly opposed, and 
thereby prevented, the call of a convention for the 
avowed purpose of expunging these tests from our 
Constitution ; that they favored a convention in 
1850 only when they saw plainly that one would 
be called in spite of them ; that if they had not 
sought, by all means in their power, to render that 
convention and its doings odious to the people, these 
amendments would undoubtedly have been approved 
and these illiberal and unjust features of our Con- 
stitution would have been expunged. These are 
plain truths, known to be so by the people of this 
State. "We know that, at the last session of the con- 
vention, a number of the leading federal members, 
including one of their late candidates for Governor, 
strenuously opposed the amendment in question ; 
while General Pierce and all the other leading Dem- 
ocratic members advocated it. 

" Such are the simple facts in regard to this mat- 
ter, and from them the people abroad can judge 
for themselves what truth there is in the charge 
against General Pierce that he opposed the aboli- 



LETTER ON TIIE STAKE MONUMENT. 207 

tion of the religions test. It has not even a shade of 
truth to rest upon ; and its authors vail find that in- 
stead of injuring him, it will re-act upon them with 
fearful effect, when the truth is placid before those 
whom they have sought to deceive." 

In the early part of 1S50, General Pierce was in- 
vited to attend a meeting, called to take measures 
for the erection of a monument to the illustrious 
General Stark of Revolutionary memory. To this 
invitation of the committee, he replied as follows : 

" Concord, Fed. 22, 1850. 

" Gentlemen : Your note of this date, inviting 
me to attend a meeting ' to be held in the City Hall 
of Manchester, on the 2nd day of March, at 7 o'clock 
P. M., for the purpose of taking measures to erect a 
monument to Major General John Stark,' has just 
been received. I fear that my engagements at court 
in Belknap county will prevent me from participa- 
ting with you in this preliminary meeting ; but 
whether present or absent, you will need no assu- 
rance of my earnest co-operation in the successful 
prosecution of an object which must make a strong 
appeal to the heart of every patriotic son of New- 
Hampshire. It will, I am confident, be the work 
of our whole population. Fathers and sons, moth- 
ers and daughters, will heartily unite in an enter- 
prise around which must ever cluster so many proud 
and grateful recollections, and they will make the 



208 LIFE OF FTtlSTKLIN PIEECE. 

column worthy of one of the bravest and most self- 
sacrificing spirits of an age of heroes. Hownaturally 
and inseperably united in association are the names 
of Washington and Marion, Stark and Sullivan ; and 
how fresh and delightful, on this anniversary, the 
memories of these great men, their associates. 
They lived and labored in a common cause, with 
unflinching fortitude, at a period full of discourage- 
ment, danger and privation. In what was the crown- 
ing element of their final and complete triumph ? 
Doubtless, in so far as human instrumentalities were 
concerned, in the bond of brotherhood and patriot- 
ism that knit together all hearts and nerved all I 
hands. A participator in that struggle made this: 
entry in his military journal, May, 1777. ' The. 
maxim adopted by our enemies is ' Divide and con-- 
quor.' We enjoin the command, c Unite and be in- 
vincible.' 'Liberty or death ' — ' Unite or die'-— 
are the mottos which blazon the chronicles of the; 
day, and embellish the military standards of almosti 
every militia company.' 

" The value of whatever will revive and stengthen 
this sentiment cannot be over-estimated, while every 
proposition, every act, every idle word, calculated 
to weaken it, is a proposition, an act, a word, false 
to humanity, and treasonable to human liberty. 

"God forbid that, while at the North and the 
South the present generation are erecting monu- 
meuts commemorative of the events of the Involu- 
tion, and of the services of its distinguished leaders, 






LETTER ON THE STARK MONUMENT. 209 

they shall, by encouragement or countenance to 
sectional distrust, cast a pall over all the bright 
hopes of the future. 

" In the fortunes of war Molly Stark was not made 
a widow at Bennington, but the monument will call 
up saddening but glorious memories of the fields of 
Lexington and Bunker Hill, Yorktown and the Cow- 
pens, and of the many homes never after gladdened, 
by the sound of a husband's and a brother's voice. 
"Will it not profitably remind us of the price at which 
the present power, freedom, and prosperity of the 
great confederacy were purchased, and necessarily 
of the only means by which they can be sustained 
and perpetuated ? 

" I shall look with interest for an account of your 
proceedings. 

I am, very respectfully, 

Your friend and servant, 

FRANK. PIEECE. 

Hon. H. Ayer, etc., etc., Committee. 



210 LIFE OF FRANKLIN PIERCE. 



CHAPTER IX. 

Gen. Tierce as 3n Orator — His success in Examining "Witnesses — Hia 
power as aPlca.ler — His Plea in the Wentwoith Case. 

General Pierce, as an orator, stands in an ex- 
alted position. He has all the natural graces of 
oratory — is a man to make a deep impression upon 
an audience by his manner — is impassioned, yet 
logical, in all his speeches. He never yet made a 
poor speech, and succeeds best with but little prep- 
aration — upon the spur of the moment. Unfortu- 
nately, his best efforts are unreported. His finest 
pleas at the bar are not preserved. As a lawyer, 
lie has long ranked among the very first in the 
Union. He is not surpassed by a single lawyer in 
New-Hampshire, in the eloquence of the bar ; not 
oven by that brilliant and far-famed man, Ichabocl 
x.artlett, cf Portsmouth. He is one of the most 
skillful managers of suits, and has a peculiar faculty 
in pumping the truth out of a witness. In this re- 
spect he is greatly like the late Daniel O'Connell. 
A witness in his hands can conceal nothing. He is 
an excellent reasoner, but his great power lies in his 
appeals to the feelings of a jury. There is no lawn 
yer in New-England, who has greater success id 
winning verdicts than General Pierce. It is almost 
proverbial, in New-Hampshire, that a man is sure 



HIS PLEA IN THE WENT WORTH CASE. 211 

of a favorable verdict, with Frank Pierce, as coun- 
sel and attorney. His eloquence is of a peculiar 
nature : it is like that of the French, full of bril- 
liancy, animation, and yet is profound. He also has 
a powerful command of sarcasm, and uses it with 
great effect occasionally, though it is entirely for- 
eign to his nature to treat any one with severity. 
It is very unfortunate that the most distinguished 
" of General Pierce's speeches at the bar are not pre- 
served. The only one ever reported we will present 
to the reader. It was badly reported, but still, it 
will give the reader a faint idea of his legal talents. 
It was made in defence of Asa and Henry T. "Went- 
worth, charged with the murder of Jonas L. Par- 
ker, March 26, 1815. The case was tried before the 
Police Court, Judge Potter on the bench, of Man- 
chester, N. H., in May, 1S50. The case at the time 
excited great attention throughout the country, and 
the most of our readers will recollect it. The case 
was a mysterious one, and General Pierce's plea 
was able, ingenious, and eloquent, and would, of 
itself, place him among the first advocates of this 
or any country : 

ARGUMENT OF GENERAL PEERCE, 

In lehalf of Asa and Henry T. Wentworth, before 
the Police Court at Manchester, July 2d, 1850. 

" vVhen your honor indulged me with an adjourn- 
ment this forenoon, it was with the hope and inten- 
tion on my part, to abridge materially the remarks 



212 LIFE OF FRANKLIN PIERCE. 

I proposed to submit in this case, as well as to omit 
a further discussion upon those points so eloquently 
and ably argued by my friends who have preceded 
me. It will be my purpose to discuss as calmly 
and dispossionately as I can, the evidence bearing 
upon the two respondents for whom I appear. 

"My friend who first preceded me, has said that 
in arguing the case, he labored under no ordinary 
embarrassment. I must confess that I also am af- 
fected by feelings of a similar character. I have, 
from the outset, labored under great apprehensions 
— not- from the evidence that has been introduced, 
but from the tremendous and unparalleled, if not 
unscrupulous exertions, that have been made by the 
retainers of the Government, to procure testimony, 
and inflame the public mind against these prisoners. 
I have entertained, from the first, no doubt of the in- 
nocence of the accused. But the extreme danger of 
the prisoners, I could not but know full well. When I 
have seen here an array of men from almost every 
section of the State — when I have seen here the 
active and energetic sheriff of the county of Rock- 
ingham, and his jailor and deputies — all putting 
forth their utmost exertions to hunt up evidence, and 
create a prejudice against these men — -when I have 
seen here felons unloosed from the jails of our own 
and a neighboring State, and wretches raked from 
almost every locality, to be used as witnesses, I con- 
fess I have labored under some apprehensions. It 
was fearful in itself, and I could not be insensible 



HIS PLEA IN" THE WENTWOETH CASE. 213 

of the extreme danger in which my clients were 
placed. I saw, in the beginning, that their guilt 
was here a foregone conclusion — not a conclusion 
to be regarded in the light of an opinion — for no- 
thing is to be dignified with the name of opinion, 
which is taken up without research, and held with- 
out knowledge. It cannot be denied that popular 
prejudice was fully aroused, and it seemed almost 
like folly to attempt to secure an impartial investi- 
gation. Yet perhaps I should say that this tribunal 
is as free from partiality and prejudice as the com- 
mon lot of humanity will permit. JSTo, I cannot say 
this ; for I do not believe it. Your honor would be 
more than human not to be influenced in some de- 
gree by this strong current of popular prejudice. 
Still, I may be jDermitted to hope, and I do ask your 
honor to rise above this prejudice, and to decide the 
case upon the law and the testimony. 

"At South-Berwick the hypothesis laid down by 
the Government was, that Horace Wentworth was 
the man who committed the murder, that Clark 
planned it, and that my clients were near to aid and 
assist. I take it for granted that they abide by this 
hypothesis now ; for if they intend to change it, 
every consideration of justice and fairness requires 
that we should be informed of it. I take it for 
granted that Horace Wentworth, who, it is charged, 
committed the murder, and Clark, the man who, 
upon the hypothesis of the Government, planned it, 
having proved, what the Government seemed tor©- 
10* 



214 LIFE OF FRANKLIN PIERCE. 

quire, incontestably their absence and innocence, 
are to be discharged. Taking that for granted, I 
ought not, perhaps, to suppose, for a moment, that 
my clients, after an examination of a hundred days, 
are to be held to answer further. 

" The idea of holding the accessaries without the 
principal, is too absurd to be indulged ; and yet, I 
wish by marshaling this evidence, which has been 
placed before your honor somewhat disjointedly, to 
show, not that my clients cannot be holden, but that 
they also are incontestably innocent. And on this 
ground, and with this purpose, I shall proceed. 

"Let me call your attention to the nature and 
circumstances of this startling murder — a murder 
more remarkable for the boldness of its conception, 
the pertinacity w T ith which the plan once adopted 
was carried out, and the desperate recklessness of 
its final consummation, than any, so far as I know, 
that has hitherto marked the history of crime. 

u During the evening, Parker is sitting in the sa- 
loon. While he is still there, and before it is yet 
late, the murderer comes to the door of his dwell- 
ing, adjoining the saloon, to call him out. The man 
is seen ; yet, with unflinching boldness, he rings the 
bell. None but the most desperate and hardened 
villain would, under these circumstances, have dared 
to go on. He was a man schooled in crime, one 
who had murder in his heart, and yet, as the testi- 
mony shows, could put a smile on his face. All the 
evidence proves him to have been acquainted with 



HIS PLEA W THE WENT WORTH CASE. 215 

Parker, and to have been a man of powerful 
strength. Fellows' testimony, as at first given in 
his deposition, proves them to have been intimate 
acquaintances. But when this prosecution is com- 
menced, and it is sought to charge Horace Went- 
worth with this fearful butchery, it is found neces- 
sary to make it appear that the man who called 
Parker out was a stranger, because it cannot be 
proved that Horace and Parker ever saw each other 
in their lives. Hence it is that Mr. Fellows is 
brought in here to swear now, that they did not 
seem to be acquainted, and that Horace "Went- 
worth is a perfect fac simile of the man. But we 
produce here a copy of his deposition, given imme- 
diately after the murder, and dash to the ground 
this contrived testimony to meet a contrived case. 
" You have heard the positive testimony of Mrs. 
Gilman — the woman called irpon by Cilley's illus- 
trious compeer, and asked to describe the man she 
saw on the night of the murder, walking up Man- 
chester street with Parker. After giving to him the 
same description she has given here upon the stand, 
Dr. Gregg asked if she ' can't say he was a little 
slimmer V and getting no satisfactory reply, then 
attempts to frighten her. from testifying in this case. 
She says she was stooping in the street, on her way 
home from a singing school, to find a chain which 
she had dropped, when Parker and the murderer 
passed along. Parker came up to her with a lan- 
tern, stopped a moment until another light was pro- 



216 LIFE OF FRANKLIN PIERCE. 

cured, and then went on. You will notice here 
how this statement is corroborated by Dr. Morrill, 
for it was at just about this spot, that he says he 
saw a light crossing the street. Mrs. Oilman and 
Mrs. Fogg bear witness, as does also Dr. Morrill, to 
the stout, athletic frame of the man with Parker on 
that fatal night. Mrs. Fogg followed behind them 
several rods. They were walking together arm in 
arm, engaged in familiar conversation. And here 
I will take occasion to say that I have been sur- 
prised that any reliance or importance, should have 
been placed by any one, either in the man's gait, or 
the size of his boots. He undoubtedly disguised 
as much as he could his general appearance, and 
most probably did not then have on the boots he 
usually wore. On the next morning, the awful 
tragedy was revealed. We may now inquire, what 
was the character of the struggle that took place on 
the spot of the murder. Every thing goes to show 
that it was protracted and violent. There can be 
no doubt that the first stroke was upon Parker's 
neck, and was intended to completely sever the 
trachea and dispatch him without a murmur. This 
failed, and a terrible struggle ensued. Dr. Crosby 
swears to us that the perforated wound upon the 
neck might not have proved fatal, and that it would 
not at once disable the man, or diminish his strength. 
If Horace, then a mere boy, had been his assailant, 
what would have prevented the muscular and agile 
Parker, from seizing him and dashing him at once 



HIS PLEA IN THE WENTWORTH CASE. 217 

to the ground ? It could not have been a struggle 
between Parker and this boy, but between two pow- 
erful men. The prints in the snow indicated that 
they closed, and that both came twice to the earth 
before the final fall. Who was that man ? Was it 
a stripling not yet twenty-one years old, whose 
cheeks the bloom of boyhood had not yet deserted ? 
No ; he was a man of strength and prowess, confi- 
dent of his muscular power. lie had dabbled his 
hand in blood before. It was no new experiment. 
Horace Wentworth could not have ventured into 
such a desperate encounter. The moral impossibil- 
ity of his dashing off suddenly and at once into such 
a depth of crime, is as great as the moral impossi- 
bility of a child's performing the labor of a man. 

" I now come to inquire, what was at that time 
the situation of the two respondents for whom I 
appear ? Where were they ? It has again and 
again been rumored that I should not here adhere 
to the alibi set up for Henry T. Wentworth, at 
Saco and South Berwick. I shall do it. My posi- 
tion is this — that Henry T. Wentworth was on that 
night at Saco. I maintain that there is no evidence 
of his having been any where else. First, where 
was he on Tuesday night preceding the murder ? 
It is proved by Maybury, the Government witness, 
that he was at Saco, and that he had there conver- 
sation with him between eight and nine o'clock in 
the evening. Next, where was he the morning but 
one after the murder ? At Saco, as proved also by 



218 LIFE OF FRANKLIN PIEKCTE. 

Maybury. How was it possible for him to bave 
left Saco, after Maybury saw bim on Tuesday nigbt, 
and traverse, unseen, a distance of eigbty miles, so 
as to reach Manchester on Wednesday evening ? 
How did be come here % "No man saw him on the 
way ; no man beard of bim ; no man noticed his 
absence from bis business in Saco. He managed 
this matter with perfect secrecy until he arrived 
within a mile and a half of the scene of the murder. 
He then overtakes Samuel Bartlett, and next finds 
himself seated by his side on a load of sand. Was 
there ever anything so absurd ? 

" On the morning after the deed, the news spread 
.like lightning. It was known in every direction, 
and every one was on the lookout. And yet on this 
morning, as testified by Eliza Jane Smith, he left 
Asa's house. Where did he go 1 Is there no man 
who can say he saw him going across the country, 
or passing in that direction ? He is the first man 
at Saco, in whose hands a handbill containing an 
account of the murder was seen on Friday morning. 
How could be have gone back those eighty miles 
and nobody have seen him ? If he had been absent 
from his business, would not scores have noticed it 
at Saco, at the time, and remembered it? How 
improbable is such a story ! And will not your honor 
require more than ordinary proof before you can 
believe it % If it is to be made out at all, you are 
to have it established by conclusive evidence. !Now, 
to my mind, the testimony of Maybury alone, is 



HIS PLEA IN THE WENTWORTH CASE. 219 

sufficient to overbear everything that has been put 
into this case against our position. They were rival 
coach drivers at Saco, and had Henry been absent 
at that time, he must have noticed that departure. 
Yet he says he did not, though he heard Henry 
talking about Parker, on the very evening he must 
have started for Manchester, if he started at all ; 
and when the news of the murder comes down, 
Henry is the first man at the depot who shows him 
a handbill, and at the same time informs him that 
it was the very Parker who had just before been 
down there. 

" I turn now to the testimony of Samuel Bartlett. 
Did ever so absurd a story as his gain credit any 
where in a court of justice ? Look at the improba- 
bilities of his testimony. He swears that Henry 
was on foot, and overtook him and his team within 
a mile and a half or two miles of Manchester. 
When he had got opposite to him, Bartlett said to 
him, c Henry, how are you V Henry at first made 
no reply, but on being addressed a second time, 
said, 4 1 wish you would not call me Henry, for I 
do not want to be known.' Bartlett then invited 
him to get up and ride with him, and to avoid ob- 
servation, as he says, he took a seat upon the off 
side of the load. Bartlett's son, Philip, and Moses 
Drew, were with a team immediately behind, but 
how a seat upon the off side could better conceal 
Henry from their observation, than one upon the 
nigh side, we are left by the witness wholly unin- 



220 LITE OF FRANKLIN PIERCE. 

formed. On their way to the city they got off the 
wagon several times, and then Henry would step 
along before Bartlett, that he might not be seen. I 
do not know how to argue testimony of this charac- 
ter. It is too glaringly false and absurd to gain 
belief anywhere. He can tell nothing of his appear- 
ance — he does not know whether he wore a hat or 
a cap, or whether he had, or had not on, an outside 
garment, nor even whether his clothes were white 
or black. He only remembers that he told him not 
to call him Henry, and by way of sharpening his 
attention, asked him to say nothing about him, for 
he did not want it known that he was in Man- 
chester. 

" It has been asked, why we did not allow Mr. 
Bunton to be put on the stand to corroborate this 
statement? Simply for the reason that his testi- 
mony upon this point, or the testimony of any man 
of his habits, cannot be reliable. There is a man of 
character and standing here, a member of the inves- 
tigating committee, whom the Government might 
have called to the stand. Why have they not pro- 
duced Mr. Morrison to substantiate this evidence 
of Bartlett ? Is it not because his story cannot be 
substantiated by any fair, credible testimony ? But 
what is the nature of the communication Bartlett 
now swears he made to Mr. Morrison, two or three 
weeks after the murder? He told him — not that 
Henry rode up on the day of the murder, but l about 
that time.' 9 He did not then fix it as being the night 



HIS PLEA m THE WENTWOETH CASE. 221 

of the murder, and he did not so inform Mr. Morri- 
son. If such information has been given to a 
member of this committee, I ask why it was neces- 
sary to send Colonel Chase and Mr. Powell, to Saco, 
to ascertain where Henry was on the night of the 
murder. If Bartlett had already informed them 
that he saw Henry here, there surely would have 
been no sort of occasion for all this. The truth in 
regard to the matter is, if Morrison received any 
such information at all, he considered it as nothing 
more than a drunken vagary, and unworthy the 
slightest attention. Do you suppose if Bartlett had 
disclosed this fact to Mr. Morrison, at a time when 
the evidence shows that Henry was suspected, Mor- 
rison would not have inquired who was with him ? 
and would not the boy Philip have been seen to 
ascertain whether he would corroborate his father ? 
Philip is now produced by us upon the stand, and 
swears that he knows nothing about the matter, 
and that he did not see Henry Wentworth from the 
time he left Manchester, in the fall of 1844, until 
he saw him here at this trial. He also testifies that 
he never heard this fact mentioned by his father, 
until a very short time previous to the Saco exam- 
ination. This testimony is very material, and 
throws discredit upon Bartlett's whole story. 

"Again, Bartlett's prevarication and attempted 
deception in regard to his books are enough in them- 
selves to overthrow and impeace his entire testimo- 
ny. In answer to my question where he had left 



222 LIFE OF FRANKLIN PIERCE. 

his books, I ask your Honor if lie was not guilty of 
positive falsehood ? And when the book is finally 
produced, is it not palpable that the date 1845, which 
he exhibited, was once 1844 ? and is it not also evi- 
dent that the word ' March ' has been written over 
a spot where another has been effaced ? The load 
of sand is all right by which he says he fixes the 
^ a te — the charge to Bunton is right, and squares 
well with his testimony — every thing is all right 
but the infamous forgery the book bears upon its 
face. 

[Here General Pierce was interrupted by Bunton, 
who was understood to say. " I say the books are 
all right — Bartlett tells the truth," or something to 
that effect.] 

" There, sir, is the man whom the government 
has taunted me with not wishing to see on the stand, 
sitting in a drunken reverie. There he sits, bloated 
and besotted. Oh, I blush for my native county, 
that such characters should be brought forward to 
sustain this prosecution. 

" Bartlett again swears that he fixes the time of 
his seeing Henry on this day by the fact, that on 
this particular night he left his load of sand upon 
the Head lot — a thing which he says he never did 
before or since. But in this he is directly contra- 
dicted by his son Philip, who swears that this was 
the spot where their loads were usually left. So 
much for the story of Samuel Bartlett. And I now 
ask your Honor and every body else, if upon such 



HIS PLEA IN THE WENTWORTH CASE. 123 

testimony you would hang even a dog of bad repu- 
tation. 

" But let us look at this case further. Asa 
Wentworth removed from Manchester to Saco in 
ISiS, where he has since been struggling to ac- 
quire a pittance for those for whom every good man 
at his time of life labors more than for himself. 
A year and a half ago he is arrested at Saco for this 
murder. A seven-weeks' examination ensues, and 
nothing being found against him, he is honorably dis- 
charged. Scarce a year is passed, when he is again 
arretted on the same charge. In order that he may 
be prevented from obtaining witnesses, or be ruined 
in procuring their attendance, he is dragged thirty 
miles from his home to undergo another examina- 
tion. With a fiendlike barbarity, the poor privilege 
of visiting his home and arranging his disordered 
business is denied him, while he is delayed near the 
confines of New-Hampshire. He is at last brought 
to Manchester, where he is compelled to go through 
with another long protracted examination. For 
more than a hundred days this investigation at 
South Berwick and here has been proceeding, and. 
now that the evidence has closed there is not a re- 
spectable and intelligent man in the courtroom, who 
believes, or will stand up and say, that upon this 
evidence any grand jury, that ever was empannelled 
or ever will be empannelled, in the county of Hills- 
borough, can ever find an indictment against him. 
Why, then, oppress these men farther ? 



224 LIFE OF FRANKLIN PIEECE. 

" We next come to the testimony of Mrs. Eliza 
Jane Smith. I would like to be informed who it 
was that first fished up this wretched prostitute and 
brought her here to testify ? "Who aided in manu- 
facturing her story, and drilled and trained her for 
the court room % She was not capable of framing 
this story herself. Some one must have done it for 
her. Why was she, I ask, brought here ? It grew 
out of the fact that there is testimony in this case 
going to show that there was a wagon that night 
stationed near the spot of the murder' — loud talk 
was heard near the woods. The murderer probably 
ran up to this wagon which was provided to carry 
him away. But being all covered and reeking with 
blood after his tremendous struggle, he was told it 
would not answer for him to get in. It was seen by 
some sagacious and unprincipled man, either here 
or at Saco, that it was necessary to train this aban- 
doned woman to meet this part of the case — a wo- 
man so vile and besotted that the government coun- 
sel had her instructed before she came upon the 
stand, even as to the obligation of an oath. !Not 
only this, but she has evidently been trained in ev- 
ery material part of her testimony. What a fiction 
is her whole story ! Henry comes in the afternoon 
— Horace comes before him — Henry goes out into 
the shed — comes in again — puts on his circular 
cape and pulls down his cap — leaves the house, 
and at a late hour returns — he calls aloud in the 
entry for the girls, and asks for a shirt — this wo- 



HIS PLEA DT THE WENTWORTH CASE. 225 

man procures one for him — he takes it and hands 
to her in a few minutes his own, blooded to the el- 
bow, and then retires to bed. The next morning he 
rises early, between four and five o'clock, and asks 
for something to eat. While sitting at the table, an 
hour before the murder of Parker is known, he 
speaks out abruptly and says to her, ' if yon ever 
say anything about what took place here last night, 
I will send you where I have sent Parker.' He then 
gets up from the table, and without looking for, or 
speaking about his blooded shirt, he leaves the 
house and is seen there no more. 

" When the learned solicitor comes to this j)art 
of the case, if he argues her testimony, let him say 
on his honor, and his conscience, if he can, that he 
believes her himself. He will have his hands full 
if he ventures to become sponsor for such witnesses 
as Eliza Jane Smith, John Brown, Sam Bartlett, 
AViley, Sarah Lewis, and Sal Peavy. Ko man who 
ever sat as a traverse juror, would think of convict- 
ing a man of the merest petty larceny, on the 
evidence of these witnesses. How, then, can these 
men be committed ? I have heard out of doors ru- 
mors of more testimony to come in hereafter. It is 
not true. There is no more testimony. It is as 
false as the alkoran. Are counsel contending here 
for a triumph? — a triumph where four men's lives 
are at stake ! Surely, they cannot be capable of 
sporting thus with the liberty of my clients. Mrs. 
Eliza J. Smith, swears that she lived and worked at 



LITE OF FRANKLIN" PIERCE. 

Asa Wentworth's house, four months. She may 
possibly have been there in the course of her vagrant 
life, but she never did live there at all. She wa3 
never known to Mrs. Asa Wentworth — that respect- 
able woman who came here and looked her in the 
eye, as she was emitting that vile perjury on the 
stand. Who are the persons called, to prove her 
there ? Sarah Lewis, who says she saw her there 
two or three times about five years ago; Frost, who 
says he has seen her about there once or twice; 
Stevens, and Mrs. Diadama Sanborn. We prove, 
however, by Dr. Colburn, who produces his books 
to establish the fact, that Mrs. Sanborn was taken 
sick in January, 1S45, when his visits commenced, 
and that those visits were continued until after the 
middle of March. He says that whenever he called, 
he always found Mrs. Sanborn confined to her bed. 
Her testimony then to this point is clearly incorrect. 
" But Mrs. Smith's testimony itself, is conclusive 
of the fact that she never lived there. She knew 
nothing at all about the arrangements in the house. 
She located Mrs. Wentworth's kitchen in the back 
part of the house where Joel's family resided, and 
the rooms actually used for a kitchen she designated 
as the parlor. She did not know that Mrs. Went- 
worth's little daughter resided that winter in the 
family, and when Mrs. Wentworth sat directly 
facing her, here in the court room, she could not 
point her out. She could see no one who looked 
like her. And at last, when the woman herself was 



HIS PLEA IN THE WENTWOKTH CASE. 227 

actually shown to her, she said, in answer to my 
question, that it was not Mrs. Wentworth. Then 
what a buzz there was among the retainers for the 
Government. 

" But whom have we called to show that she did 
not live there. INot those who have once or twice 
casually happened there, or were occasionally pass- 
ing. First, we have Joel Wentworth and his wife., 
whose family lived in the same house ; then John 
Holmes, Dr. Colburn, Mrs. Wiley, who lived oppo- 
site and was in there daily; John Adams and 
Jacob B. Moore, the portrait painter, all of whom 
swear they never saw her there. And then over 
and above all, we have the government witness 
brought down from East Topsham, Yt., Edward 
Craig, the man who, as she says, took his meals 
there all the time she lived in the family, and he 
too, swears that he never knew of such a woman 
being there. To cap the climax of this tissue of 
falsehoods, Mrs. Smith has been instructed to swear, 
and actually does swear, that she saw on the eve- 
ning of the murder, a woman attending the ball, 
who was pointed out to her as Mrs. Annis. While 
the truth is, there was then no such woman as Mrs. 
Annis in existence. The name of the woman at 
that time, was Ann Mann, and she did not become 
Mrs. Annis till long afterwards — so much for the 
testimony of that vile and infamous child-killing 
strumpet, Eliza Jane Smith. 

" We now come to consider the testimonv of Mrs, 



228 LIFE OF FEANKLIN PIERCE. 

Ann Maria Annis. She says she attended the ball 
at Asa Wentworth's house on the night of the mur- 
der — that she went there and returned on runners. 
She thinks she saw Henry T. Wentworth standing 
at the door of the hall for a minute, as she stood o 
for a dance, but does not undertake to swear posi- 
tively. Now, the single fact that there was on that 
night no snow on the ground, and no sleighing at 
all in the streets, is sufficient to show that she is 
mistaken. But we are, fortunately, able to fix this 
matter beyond all doubt. Mrs. Annis says, that on 
her return that night from the ball, one of the 
horses was injured, which caused a detention on 
the way, till the driver could go back and procure 
another horse. She could not tell whether the 
driver was Joel Went worth or John Holmes. Now 
we prove by John Holmes that on the night of the 
fifth of March of that year, he went around with an 
omnibus on runners to collect females to attend a 
ball at Asa "Wentworth's. He says he went over 
the river that night to Amoskeag, after Ann Maria 
Annis. After the ball broke up, he started to carry 
her home, but before he had gone a great distance, 
one of his horses was disabled, and he returned to 
the house and dispatched another driver with a fresh 
horse. He fixes this date by a charge made against 
Asa Wentworth at the time, for toll and his time 
on his book, which is produced here in court. Na- 
than H. Perkins is also produced, who testifies that 
he drove the carriage for Asa Wentworth, on the 



HIS PLEA IN THE WENTWORTH CASE. 229 

niglit of the 26th of March — the night of the mur- 
der — that no other carriage was to his knowledge 
driven to the ball that night, and that he did not go 
oyer the river or cany any such person as Mrs. 
a mis. This fact he also is able to fix by a memo- 
randum made at the time. So that we meet Mrs. 
Annis here not only with two witnesses, but with 
two records. But conclusive as this is, it is not all. 
"Joel Wentworth swears that he has been ac- 
quainted with Henry T. Wentworth from his child- 
hood, that he had charge of, and stood at the hall 
door where Mrs. Annis says she saw Henry, from 
early in the evening till the party retired. That 
Henry was not at the door, nor about that house 
that night, so far as he knows, nor for months before 
or after. I will now merely glance at the testimony 
of Mrs. Elizabeth Salpaugh, and shall then leave 
this part of the case. She appeared to be a very 
intelligent and highly respectable female, and gave 
in her testimony with perfect candor and fairness. 
She was at Asa's on the night of the murder, and 
heard the cries of the murdered Parker, ' Oh, don't, 
Oh, don't.' She saw a man there who was called 
"Wentworth, but she cannot say it was either of the 
prisoners. Most- probably it was Joel Wentworth, 
who swears that he stood at the door of the ball- 
room during the most of the evening. It must 
forcibly strike every one, that if ever an absence of 
Henry T. Wentworth from Saco, at that time could 
be proved, it could have easily been done by the 
11 



230 LIFE Or FRANKLIN PIERCE. 

officers who were sent there, when all these events 
were as fresh as the incidents of this day. We have 
put on the stand the Marshal of your city, J. M. 
Kowell, an old and experienced officer, and Col. 
Chase, both of whom were sent down there immedi- 
ately after the murder, to inquire about Henry T. 
"Wentworth. They both made an investigation, 
formed their conclusions, and reported them to the 
committee of vigilance. We were not allowed to 
inquire what those conclusions were. But they 
cannot be a subject of doubt. 

" As to the testimony of Eeuben J. Wiley, in 
regard to the $1000 bill, of which he says he had a 
glimpse, I need say but little. The only particular 
description he can give of the bill, is, that the word 
' Boston' was in black letters near the bottom of the 
bill. I think that your Honor will say that this 
word on the bill presented here in Court, is printed 
in light letters. Of itself, this testimony is most 
meagre. But when we look at Wiley's infamy, the 
story is told. Who is Keuben J. Wiley % A man 
who, last July, was traveling the country with a 
prostitute, while his own wife was lying on a sick 
bed, and deserted — a man who was dragged from 
a Massachusetts jail, where he was confined for 
crime he had committed, and his testimonv is trum- 
peted upon the stand to sustain this prosecution. 

"The evidence of Messrs. Adams and Harris, I 
do not deem it necessary to argue at all, as I do not 
know what possible bearing it can have upon this case. 



HIS PLEA IN THE WENTWORTH CASE. 231 

" I next come to the testimony of Mr. Richard 
G. Smith. This is the witness of whom it has been 
Tauntingly said that he could not be shaken or dis- 
turbed by any examination that we might think 
proper to give him. I have seen this gentleman 
before, but never before have I seen him so pale and 
uneasy, so restless and confused, as he appeared 
here upon the stand. Never did a witness on his 
cross-examination, seem more like a mere child in my 
hands. He swore that Joel "Went worth once told 
him that he knew Henry was here on the night of 
the murder. But this statement does not at all con- 
flict with the testimony of Joel "Wentworth, and 
can therefore have no material bearing upon this 
case. This witness swears to you that he attended 
the examination at Saco. He went down, as he says, 
upon his own hook, and the Government paid him 
for it on their own hook. He says he was gone a 
week or ten days, and states to you, here on his 
oath, that the nearest sum he can fix upon as the 
amount he received from the Government for his 
invaluable services, is $400. He could not call it a 
dollar more or a dollar less. He did not go into the 
court room while he was there, and did nothing 
whatever. A most remarkable instance of gener- 
osity on the part of the Government, or what is 
perhaps fully as probable, a most striking indica- 
tion of falsehood on the part of the witness ! 

" I have now noticed, I believe, all the witnesses 
whose evidence bears upon the case ot Henry T. 



232 LIFE OF FRANKLIN PIERCE. 

"Wentworth. I wish, however, to call your atten- 
tion for a moment to a portion of the testimony of 
John H. Brown — incidentally given by him, and 
with a far different intention — which goes to prove 
Henry T. "Wentworth's innocence. Brown says that 
he saw Henry here the fall after the murder, and 
that he went with him to show him the spot where 
the murder took place, and that Henry asked him 
to go and show him. Did a murderer ever go to the 
scene of his guilt, and lament over the death of his 
victim ? But Henry goes to the spot with Brown. 
"While there, Henry tells him that he had not been 
in Manchester before, since the fall previous. I say 
that this is conclusive that Henry knew nothing of 
the murder. Brown points out to him the place 
where the body was found — shows him where the 
head lay, and where the feet lay ; and as Henry 
called to mind the memory of a murdered acquain- 
tance, Brown says he became somewhat affected ; 
he thinks he shed a tear. Tears are no evidence of 
weakness ; are they of guilt ? But the wretch, John 
Brown, who, as proved by Hayward, Seville and 
Cheney, was not, as he says he was, in Boston on 
the night of the murder, shed no tears. It did not 
affect him ; he was past any such feeling. 

"I now come to the testimony against Asa "Went- 
worth. I have spoken of some of that evidence 
already. And here I will take occasion to do an 
act of justice to a gentleman I see here near me ; I 
mean Mr. Samuel Perkins. He was summoned in 



HIS PLEA IN THE WENT WORTH CASE. 233 

here on account of what I then considered a some- 
what extraordinary circumstance, mentioned by the 
witness, John Adams. I am now perfectly satisfied 
that what Mr. Perkins has said is strictly true, and 
I wish to acquit him, here publicly, of any actual 
or intentional misstatement. 

" "We will now proceed to examine the testimony 
of John S. Elliott. He says that he was at Asa 
"Wentworth's house, one night, some time after the 
murder, playing cards, and that Asa's wife came 
into the room and said she ' could tell who came 
there the night Parker was murdered, and looked 
pale.' Now who is there, for a moment that sup- 
poses she applied that remark to her husband ? As 
if she would furnish evidence to convict her hus- 
band of a crime for which his life must pay the for- 
feit. There can be no doubt that she referred to 
John Adams, as Adams says he always understood 
it, and as McQuestion told him. 

" Now, as to the testimony of Mrs. Downing, in 
regard to the interview between Asa and Mrs. Mc- 
Question. ' Do you think that they will prove it 
against you that you murdered Parker V ' No ! it 
was a dark night, and nobody saw us.' Can your 
Honor for one moment believe that this testimony is 
true ; that he then made a confession of guilt ? 
Aside from its great improbability, and inconsist- 
ency, it is contradicted from beginning to end by 
Mrs. McQuestion, the very woman who, it is said, 
carried on the conversation with Asa, and a lady of 



234 LIFE OF FRANKLIN PIERCE. 

irreproachable character. I ask your Honor if there 
has been a single witness on the stand who has ap- 
peared better than she ? She has been long a resi- 
dent of this city. If they can impeach her, why 
have they not attempted it ? 

" Stephen C. Hall, whom we have called to the 
stand, says that he saw Asa in his own bar-room on 
the night of the murder, after 9 o'clock, when Zimri 
Lew came in, and informed them of the outcry he 
had just heard in the woods. 

" There is but one point left, and that is the ques- 
tion of Asa Wentworth's property. Are counsel 
going to argue this point to the Court ? Argue 
what ? Why, they show that in the fall of 1844, 
he was sent to the Amherst jail for selling liquor; 
that about that time, he purchased his place of Ste- 
phen C. Hall, for $1000, and paid $150 down, and 
gave notes for the rest, payable in one, two, and 
three years. It appears that the whole amount was 
finally paid in just before the expiration of the three 
years, and that the largest amount paid in at any 
one time after the first payment, was one hundred 
dollars. Since his arrest, all his property at Saco 
has been laid under attachment, and the effect of 
this examination will be to strip him of every cent's 
worth of property he has in the world. This matter 
of property has, I understand, been often used 
against Asa "VVentworth, and much of the popular 
excitement against him, has, in this particular, been 
fanned by the rankest falsehoods. On this point I 



HIS PLEA IN THE WENT WORTH CASE. 235 

defy investigation. I proposed to the solicitor in 
the outset, that an auditor should be sent to Maine to 
investigate this matter fully. If it cannot be shown 
that all he has, or all he has had, is the result of his 
honest and hard earnings, I will consent that they 
may go to prison. 

" I now feel, may it please your Honor, that my 
duty in this case has been performed. I entertain 
no more doubt of the innocence of these four men, 
than I do of my own. During this examination, I 
have already said I had fears, not from testimony, 
but from the forestalling of opinion out of doors. 
The pressure has been from without. Public senti- 
ment has been cheated, misled, abused. From the 
evidence itself, 1 can fear nothing. Before no jury 
can they incur the least danger. Yet, should they 
be sent to the gloomy cells of the prison, I tremblingly 
apprehend that over the remains of my younger 
friend, whose feeble frame is before me, the cold 
clods will rest before the day of trial shall arrive. 
Then will his fiend-like pursuers have accomplished 
one purpose ; and not satisfied with this, they may 
perhaps, like harpies, go to his grave, and with the 
ferocity of the hyena, howl and scratch over his re- 
mains. His eldest brother, Asa, is here to-day, ru- 
ined in property and broken in spirit, with nothing 
to live for but his wife and children. Yet he must 
be sent to prison, because there must be a victim 
■ — not because any one can believe him guilty, but 
because there must be a triumph. Triumph 1 what 



236 LIFE OF FKANKLIN PIEKCE. 

a word to be used on an occasion like this, when the 
personal liberty of men, nay their lives, are ulti- 
mately involved! The scoj)e and effect of such a 
decision, I have no language to express. While 
they are here to-day, there is sorrow and weeping 
at that home outraged by their absence. 

" ' My spouse and boys dwell near thy hall, 

Along the bordering lake, 
And -when they on their father call, 

What answer shall she make V 

" c He is in Amherst jail.' * Why,' asks his child, 
with earnest gaze, ' was my father guilty of crime?' 
6 No, my son, but they have pursued him with blood- 
hound ferocity. They have raked the purlieus of 
houses of correction and of prisons in New-Hamp- 
shire and Massachusetts, and upon the testimony of 
felons charged him.' 

" Did it not almost seem to the court, when that 
tittering, fiend-like prostitute, Eliza Jane Smith, and 
others hardly less vile, succeeded each other upon 
the stand, that the government must have swept the 
great ultimate prison house of unreclaimed atrocity 
and unforgiven crime with a drag-net ? 

" Sir, if these men are to be committed, they are 
to be held not only without evidence, but against 
evidence. They are to be ground down beneath the 
iron heel of oppression. 

" I have been told that the warning of Lochiel 
was ringing in my ears. If these men are oppressed 
farther, there are those to whom the warning of the 



HIS PLEA IN THE WENTWORTH CASE. 137 

seer will jet be applicable, in those ears it will ring 
like a funeral knell — ■ 

" Wo ! wo to the riders that trample them down." 

" I have now done my duty — all I need and can 
do — poorly and feebly at best, but sir, all I can do 
• — and the responsibility now rests with you and the 
Government." 

The prisoners was triumphantly acquitted. 
11* 



233 LIFE OF FRANKLIN PIERCE. 



CHAPTER X. 

General Pierce at Home— His Family— His Popularity— Anecdote — His 
Generosity — Personal Appearence — The Compromise Question — 
Nominated to the Presidency by the N. H. Democracy — Declines 
— Letter to Colonel Lally. 

Concord, the residence of General Pierce is one 
of the most retired, most beautiful of all the inland 
towns of New-England. Containing about ten 
thousand inhabitants, surrounded by an industrious 
population of agriculturalists, it combines the ad- 
vantages of a residence in the city and country. 
The streets are wide, and lined with pleasant shade 
trees ; the beautiful Merrimac flows pleasantly 
through the town ; the winds in the summer are 
fresh and cool, from the heights of the White Moun- 
tains, and, in short, it is one of the pleasantest sum- 
mer homes in the Union. The law office of General 
Pierce is situated upon Main street. His law-part- 
ner, Mr. Minot, is a young but able and gentlemanly 
man. General Pierce has no home at present, as, 
with his wife and child, he boards at a private house 
in the southern part of the village. 

In November, of 1834, during his second year in 
Congress, General Pierce married Jane Means, the 
youngest child of Pev. Dr. Appleton, late President 
of Bowdoin College. This was the result of an in- 



HIS FAMILY. HIS POPULARITY. 289 

timacy formed while lie was studying law at Amherst, 
which was the residence of her maternal relatives. 
They have had three children, and all of them 
sons. The first of these died in infancy ; the sec- 
ond, Frank Robert, a lovely and beautiful child, 
died in 1S-44, at the age of five years ; and the 
youngest now lives at Concord with his parents. 
His name is Benjamin, and he is eleven years old. 
Mrs. Pierce is an accomplished woman, but of late 
years has suffered much from poor health. The 
death of Frank Robert was a terrible stroke upon 
her, and she has never completely recovered from it. 
Ever since, she has been more or less of a pensive, 
melancholy disposition, exceedingly retired and 
modest. General Pierce is beloved by his family, 
and indeed he is one of the most devoted of hus- 
bands and fathers. For the sake of his wife he has 
often relinquished the highest honors which were 
pressed upon him ; for her sake he has retired from 
the highest places to the stillness and quietude of a 
life in the country. 

It has been our great pleasure to see General 
Pierce at home among his people in " the old Gran- 
ite State," and we were surprised to discover with 
what universal affection he is held. His popularity 
in New-Hampshire is unbounded — his name never 
is mentioned without the greatest enthusiasm. 
During his campaign in Mexico, General Pierce was 
loved as well as admired by the soldiers under his 
command. Shortly after the war was brought to a 



240 LIFE OF FRANKLIN PIERCE. 

close, one of the soldiers in the Ninth Regiment 
wandered np into New-Hampshire, and one day 
entered the yard of a fine looking mansion, to ask 
for a glass of water. The owner asked him to sit 
down, saying : 

" Friend, from what place do yon come ?" 

"From Mexico !" answered the old soldier. 

" Oh ! indeed — yon fought in the war then?" 

" Yes," he replied, after satisfying his thirst. 

" And did yon know anything of Frank Pierce 
there ?" asked the gentleman. 

" Yes, I fought under him." 

"And a downright coward he was, if report 
speaks truly," said the gentleman. The old soldier 
started up as if a thunderbolt had fallen at his feet. 
He eyed the man closely for a minute in astonish- 
ment, when he repeated : 

" He was a coward, I say, was he not ?" In a 
moment the soldier's ire was roused, and he put 
himself in an attitude for fighting. 

" Another word of that sort, sir, and I'll pitch 
you out of the window !" 

" Ha ! ha ! you are rather fast, my man, this is 
my house." 

" Devil a bit do I care whose house it is : if you 
(or any other man) dare to call Frank Pierce a 
coward to my face, you will get soundly thrashed 
for it. Good morning sir !" 

The one great secret of General Pierce's popu- 



ANECDOTE OF GEN. PIERCE. 241 

larity is his kind-heartedness. He lias a word 
for all his friends, whether Inch or low ; he has 
a pnrse always open to the call of the suffering 
and oppressed. You can always find him in his 
place at church on Sundays, and on week-days he 
is ever ready to assist the poor and unfortunate with 
his money and his talents. 

A fact which speaks volumes for General Pierce's 
generosity is this : that although he has been in 
lucrative offices, and for the past few years in the 
receipt of an income of near ten thousand dol- 
lars a year, from his professional services, yet he is 
a poor man ! He is not to-day worth ten thousand 
dollars' — and we dare say never will be worth that 
sum, so generous is he in all his actions. 

The following anecdote of him is told by one of 
his friends : 

On a certain occasion, two men had been arrested 
on suspicion of murder. He heard of it, and at 
once looked after their interests. " I do not know," 
said the person of whom he asked information about 
the character of the men, " whether they will be 
able to reward you for your services." " That is 
not the point," he replied. " Who are the men ?" 
He learned their names, and he said, " This must 
be looked into. I hardly think they can have done 
it." The justice had ordered them committed ; but 
Mr. Pierce, believing there was no good ground for 
the • commitment, brought them befere another 



2i2 LIFE OF FRANKLIN PIERCE. 

magistrate on a writ of habeas corpus — and when 
the grand jury met, nothing could be found against 
them, and they were discharged. 

Upon a certian occasion, a poor young man in 
New-Hampshire, was imprisoned upon a charge of 
theft. General Pierce defended him, though with- 
out any hope of getting paid for his trouble. During 
the trial he became thoroughly convinced of the in- 
nocence of his client, though the circumstantial evi- 
dence against him was very strong. He exerted 
himself to the utmost to save the poor young man, 
but all was in vain. The verdict was against him, 
and the poor fellow was marched off to prison. But 
General Pierce tried to raise his dejected spirits by 
hopes of a pardon. He spent time and money to 
effect his object, and at last was successful. The 
young man was set free ! And what was the result ? 
Why, that the young man became one of the best of 
men, and is this day one of the steadiest citizens of 
New-Hampshire ! There are a thousand such anec- 
dotes which we might relate, all going to show how 
noble, and how generous is the character of Frank 
Pierce, but we have no room to repeat them. 

The personal appearance of General Pierce is ele- 
gant and commanding. He is within a few inches 
of six feet in height ; is rather slight and thin than 
inclined to obesity ; has a very pleasant and im- 
pressive address. His eyes are bright and piercing ; 
his hair is greyish ; his forehead, and indeed, face, 
very fine, open and frank in their expression. It is 



HIS HABITS. — THE COMPROMISE. 243 

difficult to gain a fair idea of the man from a por- 
trait. You need to see the gentleness of his man- 
ners,/^ the kindliness of his nature, and witness 
the easy politeness of all his actions. There is not 
a spice of the aristocrat in the man ; he is as polite 
to a beggar as to a prince, as free and generous to 
a country farmer as to a Senator in the halls of 
Congress. 

In his habits he is strict and severe. In several 
conversations with him, we could not fail to observe 
with what solemnity and reverence he alluded to 
the hand of Providence in all things. He is not a 
member of any Church, but generally attends wor- 
ship at the Congregational Church in Concord. 

We now come to the scenes of 1850 — the agita 
tion in reference to the Compromise Scheme, etc., 
etc. With this agitation General Pierce was not 
specially identified ; yet it would be unfair to deny 
that his course in reference to the compromise has 
been distinct and bold. His views on these meas- 
ures were expressed in a private letter to a distin- 
guished Senator, under date of May 9, 1850. We 
give the following extracts : 

" I have been so constantly occupied in court that 
no leisure moment has presented itself for the ac- 
knowledgment of your noble speech upon Mr. Bell's 
proposition for a compromise of the question, which 
has so deeply agitated Congress and the country 
during the last few months. I appreciate your kind 



244: LIFE OF FRAJSEXIN PIEECE. 

remembrance of me personally. As a New-Hamp- 
shire man, I hear your name pronounced only 
with pride ; as an American citizen, I acknowledge 
with gratitude the eminent public services that 
have signalized your course along the whole line of 
your useful life. 

" It grieves me to observe that the spirit of con- 
cession and honorable compromise is not stronger 
and more prevailing at Washington. I have no ap- 
prehension that the disruption of this Union is at 
hand ; but I foresee consequences appalling in this 
daily use of the terms ' north and south,' as terms 
of antagonism. What are the North and South but 
component parts of our common country — parts 
which should be regarded as absolutely inseparable ; 
not united merely by reciprocal rights and obli- 
gations arising under the Constitution, but bound 
together by ties of affection, common interest, and 
reciprocal k respect ; recognizing at all times, and 
above all, that noble band of brotherhood which 
concentrated the genius, and courage, and patriotism 
that achieved our independence, that has sustained 
the country in all its trials — 'that bond to which 
the republic is indebted for a career more rapid and 
wonderful than any that has hitherto marked the 
march of civilization and civil liverty ? 

" You have doubtless observed that a great effort 
is being made to give currency to the impression, 
that the opinion and sentiments advanced by your- 
self find nothing like a general response in New- 



PRESENTED FOE THE PRESIDENCY. 245 

England. I do not believe the fact to be so in this 
State. Our people set a value upon the Union 
which language cannot express ; they look for a 
compromise — expect a compromise — conceived in a 
spirit of justice and patriotism, firmly and manful- 
ly." 

In January, 1852, the Democracy of New-Hamp- 
shire presented General Pierce as their candidate 
for the Presidency. The General declined the hon- 
or in the following language : 

" Concord, January 12th, 1852. 

" Dear Sir : I take the liberty to address you, 
because no channel more appropriate occurs to me 
through which to express my thanks to the conven- 
tion over which you presided on the 8th instant, and 
to the masses there represented. 

"I am far from being insensible to the steady and 
generous confidence so often manifested towards me 
by the people of this State ; and although the ob- 
ject indicated in the resolution, having particular 
reference to myself, be not one of desire on my part, 
the expression is not on that account, less gratify- 
ing. 

" Doubtless the spontaneous and just appreciation 
of an intelligent people, is the best earthly reward 
for earnest and cheerful services rendered to one's 
state and country ; and while it is a matter of un- 
feigned regret that my life has been so barren of 



246 LIFE OF FRANKLIN PIERCE. 

usefulness, I snail ever hold this and similar trib- 
utes, among my most cherished recollections. 

" To these, my sincere and grateful acknowledg- 
ments, I desire to add, that the same motive which 
induced me several years ago to retire from public 
life, and which since that time controlled my judg- 
ment in this respect, now impel me to say, that the 
use of my name, in any event, before the Democrat- 
ic National Convention at Baltimore, to which you 
are a delegate, would be utterly repugnant to my 
tastes and wishes. I am, with the hightest respect 

and esteem, your friend, 

" FRANK. PIERCE. 

" Hon. Ohas. G. Atherton, Nashville, N. II." 

The following is the last letter of General Pierce, 
before the meeting of the National Democratic 
Convention at Baltimore. It is addressed to Colo- 
nel Lally, of New-Hampshire : 

Tremont House, Boston, May 27th, 1852. 

" I intended to speak to you more fully upon the 
subject of the compromise measures than I had an 
opportunity to do. The importance of the action 
of the convention upon this question cannot be over- 
estimated. I believe there will be no disposition 
on the part of the South to press resolutions unneces- 
sarily offensive to the sentiments of the North. 
But can we say as much on our side ? Will the 
North come cheerfully up to the mark of constitu- 
tional right ? If not, a breach in our party is inev- 



VIEWS ON THE COMPROMISE MEASURES. 247 

itable. The matter should be met at the thresh- 
old, because it rises above party, and looks at the 
very existence of the confederacy. 

" The sentiment of no one State is to be regarded 
upon this subject ; but having fought the battle in 
New-Hampshire upon the fugitive slave law, and up- 
on what we believed to be the ground of constitutional 
right, we should of course desire the approval of the 
democracy of the country. What I wish to say 
to you is this. If the compromise measures are not 
to be substantially and firmly maintained, the plain 
rights secured by the Constitution will be trampeled 
in the dust. What difference can it mate to 
you or me, whether the outrage shall seem to fall on 
South Carolinia, or Maine, or New-Hampshire? 
Are not the rights of each equally dear to us all ? 
I will never yield to a craven spirit, that from con- 
siderations of policy would endanger the Union. 
Entertaining these views, the action of the conven- 
tion must, in my judgment, be vital. If we of the 
North, who have stood by the constitutional rights 
of the South, are to be abandoned to any time-serv- 
ing policy, the hopes of democracy and of the Union 
must sink together. As I told you, my name will 
not be before the convention ; but I cannot help 
feeling that what there is to be done will be impor- 
tant beyond men and parties — transcendently im- 
portant to the hopes of democratic progress and 
civil liberty. Your friend, 

"FRANK. PIERCE," 



248 LIFE OF FRANKLIN PIERCE. 



CHAPTER XL 

The National Convention — Letter of the Committee — Gen. Pierce's 
Reply — Remarks. 

It is not necessary for ns here to give a detailed 
report of the doings of the Democratic National 
Convention, which met at Baltimore on Tuesday, 
the 12th of June. Its course is well known. The 
protracted struggle between the friends of several 
prominent candidates has become a matter of his- 
tory. After four days spent in earnest attempts to 
come to a decision, on the thirty-sixth ballot, the 
Virginia delegation cast their vote for Franklin 
Pieece, of New-Hampshire. On the forty-eighth 
ballot, Mr. Pierce polled 55 votes. On the forty- 
ninth ballot, North-Carolina first came to the support 
of the Granite Statesman, amid tumultuous ap- 
plause. The Mississippi delegation followed in the 
same track ; then came Tennessee and Alabama. 
By this time, the whole Convention was one mass 
of enthusiasm. State after State wheeled into the 
support of Franklin Pierce, until the vote stood — • 
For General Pierce, 282 ; all others, 11. Loud 
huzzas followed the announcement of the vote. It 
was in vain for the officers of the Convention to at- 
tempt to restrain the wild manifestations of delight 
on the part of the audience. Out of doors, the 



HIS NOMINATION FOR THE PRESIDENCY. 249 

thunder of cannon was soon heard, and the streets 
were full of people, filled with enthusiasm. 

Franklin Pierce was then declared to be the 
unanimous choice of the Convention for the Presi- 
dency. 

The Committee of Resolutions reported the fol- 
lowing, and, by a vote of 167 ayes to 97 nays, they 
were adopted, and now constitute — 

THE DEMOCRATIC PLATFORM. 

"Resolved, That the American Democracy place 
their trust in the intelligence, the patriotism, and 
the discriminating justice of the American people. 

"Resolved, That we regard this as a distinctive 
feature of our political creed, which we are proud 
to maintain before the world, as a great moral 
element in a form of government springing from 
and upheld by the popular will ; and we contrast 
it with the creed and practice of Federalism, under 
whatever name or form, which seeks to palsy the 
will of the constituent, and which conceives no 
imposture too monstrous for the popular credulity. 

" Resolved, Therefore, that, entertaining these 
views, the Democratic party of this Union, through 
their delegates assembled in a General Convention 
of the States, coming together in a spirit of concord, 
of devotion to the doctrines and faith of a free rep- 
resentative government, and appealing to their fel- 
low citizens for the rectitude of their intentions, 



50 LITE OF FRANKLIN PIERCE. 

renew and re-assert, before the American people, 
the declaration of principles avowed by them when, 
on former occasions, in general Convention, they 
presented their candidates for the popular suffra- 
ges. 

"1. That the Federal Government is one of limit- 
ed powers, derived solely from the Constitution, 
and the grants of power made therein ou^ht to be 
strictly construed by all the departments and agents 
of the Government ; and that it is inexpedient and 
dangerous to exercise doubtful constitutional pow- 
ers. 

" 2. That the Constitution does not confer upon 
the General Government the power to commence 
and carry on a general system of Internal Improve- 
ments. 

" 3. That the Constitution does not confer author- 
ity upon the Federal Government, directly or indi- 
rectly, to assume debts of the several States, 
contracted for local internal improvements, or other 
State purposes, nor would such assumption be just 
or expedient. 

"4. That justice and sound policy forbid the 
Federal Government to foster one branch of indus- 
try to the detriment of any other, or to cherish the 
interests of one portion to the injury of another 
portion of our common country ; that every citizen 
and every section of the country has a right to 
demand and insist upon an equality of rights and 
privileges, and to complete and ample protection 



THE DEMOCRATIC PLATFOKM. 251 

of persons and property from domestic violence or 
foreign aggression. 

" 5. That it is the duty of every branch of the 
Government, to enforce and practice the most rigid 
economy in conducting our public affairs, and that 
no more revenue ought to be raised than is required, 
to defray the necessary expenses of the Government, 
and for the gradual but certain extinction of the 
public debt. 

" 6. That Congress has no power to charter a 
[National Bank ; that we believe such an institution 
one of deadly hostility to the best interests of the 
country, dangerous to our republican institutions 
and the liberty of the people, and calculated to 
place the interests of the country within the control 
of a concentrated money power, and above the laws 
and will of the people ; and that the results of Dem- 
ocratic legislation, in this and all other financial 
measures upon which issues have been made be- 
tween the two political parties of the country, have 
demonstrated to candid and practical men of all 
parties, their soundness, safety, and utility, in all 
business pursuits, 

" 7. That the separation of the moneys of the 
government from banking institutions, is indispen- 
sable for the safety of the funds of the Govern- 
ment, and the rights of the people. 

" 8. That the liberal principles embodied by 
Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence, and 
sanctioned in the Constitution, which makes ours 



252 LIFE OF FEANKLIN PIERCE. 

the land of liberty and the asylum of the oppressed 
of every nation, have ever been cardinal principles 
in the Democratic faith ; and every attempt to 
abridge the privilege of becoming citizens, and the 
owners of soil among ns, ought to be resisted with 
the same spirit which swept the alien and sedition 
laws from onr statute book. 

" 9. That Congress has no power under the Con- 
stitution to interfere with or control the domestic 
institutions of the several States, and that such 
States are the sole and proper judges of everything 
appertaining to their own affairs, not prohibited by 
the Constitution ; that all efforts of the abolition- 
ists or others, made to induce Congress to interfere 
with questions of Slavery, or to take incipient steps 
in relation thereto, are calculated to lead to the 
most alarming and dangerous consequences ; and 
that all such efforts have an inevitable tendency to 
diminish the happiness of the people, and endanger 
the stability and permanency of the Union, and 
ought not to be countenanced by any friend of our 
political institutions. 

" Resolved, That the foregoing proposition covers, 
and was intended to embrace, the whole subject of 
slavery agitation in Congress ; and therefore the 
Democratic party of the Union, standing on this 
national platform, will abide by and adhere to a 
faithful execution of the acts known as the Com- 
promise measures, settled by the last Congress — 
the act for reclaiming fugitives from service or labor 



TIIE DEMOCRATIC PLATFORM. 253 

included — which act being designed to cany out 
an express provision of the Constitution, cannot 
with fidelity thereto, be repealed, or so changed as 
to destroy or impair its efficiency. 

" Resolved, That the Democratic party will resist 
all attempts at renewing in Congress, or ou.t of it, 
the agitation of the Slavery question, under what- 
ever shape or color the attempts may be made. 

" Resolved, That the proceeds of the public lands 
ought to be sacredly applied to the national objects 
specified in the Constitution ; and that we are op- 
posed to any law for the distribution of such pro- 
ceeds among the States, as alike inexpedient in 
policy and repugnant to the Constitution. 

" Resolved, That we are decidedly opposed, to 
taking from the President the qualified veto power, 
by which he is enabled, under restrictions and 
responsibilities, amply sufficient to guard the public 
interest, to suspend the passage of a bill whose 
merits cannot secure the approval of two-thirds of 
the Senate and House of Representatives, until the 
j-.dgment of the people can be obtained thereon, 
and which has saved the American people from the 
corrupt and tyrannical .domination of the Bank of 
the United States, and from a corrupting system of 
general Internal Improvements. 

" Resolved, That the Democratic party will faith- 
fully abide by and uphold the principles laid down 
in the Kentucky and Virginia resolutions of 1793 
12 



254 LIFE OF FRANKLIN" PIERCE. 

and 1793, and in the report of Mr. Madison to the 
Virginia Legislature in 1799 ; that it adopts those 
principles as constructing one of the main founda- 
tions of its political creed, and is resolved to carry 
them out in their obvious meaning and import. 

" Resolved, That the war with Mexico, upon all 
the principles of patriotism and the laws of nations, 
was a just and necessary war on our part, in which 
no American citizen should have shown himself 
opposed to his country, and neither morally nor 
physically, by word or deed, given aid and comfort 
to the enemy. 

" Resolved, That we rejoice at the restoration of 
friendly relations with our sister republic of Mex- 
ico, and earnestly desire for her all the blessings 
and prosperity which we enjoy under republican 
institutions, and we congratulate the American 
people upon the results of that war, which have so 
manifestly justified the policy and conduct of the 
Democratic party, and insured to the United States 
indemnity for the past, and security for the future. 

"Resolved, That in view of the condition of the 
popular institutions in the Old World, a high and 
sacred duty is devolved with increased responsibil- 
ity upon the Demacracy of this country, as the party 
of the people, to uphold and maintain the rights of 
every State, and thereby the union of the states, 
and to sustain and advance among them constitu- 
tional liberty by continuing to resist all monopolies 



LETTER OF THE COMMITTEE. 255 

and exclusive legislation for the benefit of the few, 
at the expense of the many, and by a vigilant and 
constant adherence to those principles and compro- 
mises of the Constitution, which are broad enough 
and strong enough to embrace and uphold the Union 
as it is, and the Union as it should be, in the full 
expansion of the energies and capacity of this great 
and progressive people." 

The following correspondence between the Com- 
mittee appointed by the National Convention and 
General Pierce, (to acquaint General Pierce with 
his nomination,) took place immediately after the 
Convention — the Committee going in person to 
Concord. 

LETTER OF THE COMMITTEE. 

" Concord, June 17, 1852. 

" Sir : A National Convention of the Demo- 
cratic Republican Party, which met in Baltimore 
the first Tuesday in June, unanimously nominated 
you as a candidate for the high trust of the Presi- 
dent of the United States. We have been delega- 
ted to acquaint you with the nomination, and 
earnestly to request that you will accept it. Per- 
suaded as we are, that this office should never be 
pursued by an unchastened ambition, it cannot be 
refused by a dutiful patriotism. 

"The circumstances under which you will be 
presented for the canvass of your countrymen, seem 



256 LITE OF FRASTKLIN PIERCE. 

to us propitious to the interests which the Consti- 
tution entrusts to our Federal Union, and must be 
auspicious to your own name. You come before 
the people without the impulse of personal wishes, 
and free from selfish expectations. You are iden- 
tified with none of the distractions which have 
recently disturbed our country, whilst you are 
known to be faithful to the Constitution — to all its 
guarantees and compromises. You will be free to 
execute your tried abilities within the path of duty 
in protecting that repose we happily enjoy, and in 
giving efficacy and control to those cardinal princi- 
ples that have already illustrated the party which 
has now selected you as its leader — principles that 
regard the security and prosperity of the whole 
country, and the paramount power of its laws as 
indissolubly associated with the perpetuity of our 
civil and religious liberties. 

" The Convention did not pretermit the duty of 
reiterating those principles, and you will find them 
prominently set forth in the resolutions it adopted. 
To these we respectfully invite your attention. 

" It is firmly believed that to your talents and 
patriotism the security of our holy Union, with its 
expanded and expanding interests, may be wisely 
trusted, and that amid all the perils which may 
assail the Constitution, you will have the heart to . 
love and the arm to defend it. 

"With congratulations to you and the country 
upon this demonstration of its exalted regard, and 



GENERAL PLERCE's ACCEPTANCE. 257 

the patriot hopes that dusted over it, we have the 
honor to be, with all respect, your fellow citizens, 

J. S. BARBOUR, 
J. THOMPSON", 
ALPHEUS FELCH, 
PIERRE SOULE. 
Hon. Franklin Pierce, New-Hampshire." 

GENERAL TIERCe's REPLY. 

" Concord, N". IT., June 17, 1852. 

"Gentlemen: I have the honor to acknowledge 
your personal kindness in presenting me this day 
your letter, officially informing me of my nomina- 
tion by the Democratic National Convention, as a 
candidate for the Presidency of the United States. 
The surprise with which I received the intelligence 
of my nomination was not unmingled with painful 
solicitude, and yet it is proper for me to say that 
the manner in which it was conferred was peculiarly 
gratifying;. 

" The delegation from New-Hampshire, with all 
the glow of State pride, and with all the warmth 
of personal regard, would, not have submitted my 
name to the Convention, nor would they have cast 
a vote for me under any circumstances other than 
those which occurred. 

" I shall always cherish with pride and gratitude 
the recollection of the fact that the voice which first 
pronounced, and pronounced alone, came from the 
mother of states — a pride and gratitude rising above 



258 LIFE OF FRANEXLN" PIERCE. 

any consequences that can betide me personally. 
May I not regard it as a fact pointing to the over- 
throw of sectional jealousies, and looking to the per- 
manent life and vigor of the Union, cemented by 
the blood of those who have passed to their re- 
ward — a Union wonderful in its formation, bound- 
less in its hopes, amazing in its destiny ? 

" I accept the nomination, relying upon an abi- 
ding devotion to the interests, honor, and glory of 
the whole country, but, above and beyond all, upon 
a Power superior to all human might, a Power 
which from the first gun of the Revolution, in every 
crisis through which we have passed, in every hour 
of acknowledged peril, when the dark clouds had 
shut down over us, has interposed as if to baffle 
human wisdom, outmarch human forecast, and 
bring out of darkness the rainbow of promise. 
Weak myself, but in faith and hope I repose my se- 
curity. 

"I accept the nomination upon the platform 
adopted by the Convention, not because this is ex- 
pected of me as a candidate, but because the prin- 
ciples you embraced command the approbation of 
my judgment, and with that I believe I can safely 
say there has been no word nor act of my life in 
conflict with them. 

" I have now only to offer my grateful acknowl- 
edgments to you, gentlemen, to the Convention of 
which you are members, and to the people of our 
common country. 



HE IS APPRIZED OF HIS NOMINATION. 259 

" I am with the highest respect, your most obedi- 
ent servant, 

"FRANKLIN PIERCE. 

To Hon. J. S. Barbour, J. Thompson, Alpheus 
Felch, Pierre Soule." 

The news of the nomination of General Pierce to 
the Presidency has created throughout the country 
the utmost enthusiasm. To the General himself, it 
came suddenly and unexpectedly. Full of modesty, 
he had not the slightest expectations of such honors. 
But there were others who foresaw, from the pecu- 
liar circumstances, from General Pierce's universal 
popularity and fitness for office, that his chances for 
a nomination were by no means slight. The day 
upon which the final ballot was taken, General 
Pierce was in Cambridge. A friend in Boston, 
upon receiving the news of his nomination, imme- 
diately rode over to apprize him of the result. He 
chanced to meet the General in his carriage, and 
accosted him with — 

" Have you heard the news from Baltimore ?" 

" ~No. AVho is nominated ?" 

" Yourself, General. Allow me to congratulate 
you !" 

" JSTo man has heard the news with more surprise 
than myself," replied modest yet illustrious General 
Pierce. His conduct, since the nomination, has 
been a proof of his excellent wisdom of character. 
The majority of men would have been elated with 
such honors, but it is not so with Franklin Pierce. 



260 LIFE OF FRANKLIN PIERCE. 

From the first he has conducted himself in a retir- 
ing manner. Instead of feeling elated at his nomi- 
nation, he has rather seemed to grow serious under 
the sense of his great and solemn position. It is no 
light matter fur a man to assume the responsibilities 
of the Presidency, or to become the candidate of the 
great Democratic party of the United States for that 
high office. In a conversation which we had the 
honor of hold in g; with General Pierce a short time 
since, he said that the whole matter — his nomina- 
tion — the coming struggle, etc., etc. — w T as entirely 
distasteful to him, and he would not consent to run 
as the party's candidate, did he not believe it to be 
his duty so to do. And we saw^ by his whole de- 
meanor that he spoke from the heart. 



The following letter from Mr. Pierce was ad- 
dressed to the Philadelphians in reply to an invita- 
tion to participate with them in the celebration of 
our ISTational Anniversary on the 5th inst. : 

" Concord, N. II, June 30, 1S52. 

" Gentlemen : There are many reasons why it 
would be peculiarly gratifying to me, to accept your 
hind invitation, and pass the next Anniversary of 
Independence as a Ration, in Philadelphia. 

" Wherever an American citizen is found on the 
recurrence of that day, whether upon his own or 
upon a foreign soil, his thoughts instinctively turn 
to the consecrated locality of the most sublime spec- 



LETTER TO PHILADELPHIA. 261 

facie presented in the history of governments, and 
his heart beats quicker and warmer for his own 
country, and most earnestly for the disenthralment 
of the oppressed everywhere, as his free glance is 
turned toward ' Independence Hall.' 

" The suggestions of severe prudence may, for the 
moment, be less controling, but it is well that, once 
in every year, full latitude be given to the impulses 
that gush out, and the generous ardor that glows for 
the firm establishment of constitutional liberty 
throughout the world. It is well that we recount 
the sacrifices at which this glorious Union, with all 
its multiplied and multiplying blessings, was pur- 
chased. It is well that, in the midst of our congrat- 
ulations, we remember that in the weakness of our 
infancy as a people, not only words of cheering 
were sent across the ocean to greet us, but upon its 
bosom were borne to our shores hearts to sympa- 
thize and arms to strike. How the cherished mem- 
ories of the noble dead of other lands, whose blood 
mingled with that of our fathers in the struggle that 
followed the declaration, the anniversary of which 
you are to commemorate, come thronging with the 
gray dawn of that day of general jubilee ! So may 
they every come ! So will they ever come, while 
we are faithful to the Constitution, true to our mis- 
sion, and heedful to the lessons of wisdom which 
have descended to us. 

"Independent of the inspiring associations to 
which I have adverted, it would be pleasant to par- 

12* 



262 LIFE OF FRANKLIN PIERCE. 

ticipate in the National festival in Philadelphia, 
because I should meet numerous friends whose ac- 
quaintance I enjoyed at Washington, many years 
ago, and more, perhaps, for whom I formed ties of 
unalterable attachment, in that different field of 
service, to which so many of your citizens were 
called, in 1847. 

" With these strong inducements for compliance, 
you will readily appreciate the deep regret I feel, in 
being compelled to deny myself the pleasure of 
meeting the sterling Democracy of your city and 
county, as proposed. 

" I have made arrangements to attend the anni- 
versary of the Society of the Cincinnati, instituted 
by the officers of the American army, at the close 
of the Revolution, of which my father was an ori- 
ginal member. There is no longer hope of meeting 
the patriarchs, whose names appear with that of the 
Father of his country, upon the old constitution of 
the Society, but I feel a strong desire to be with 
their descendants on that day. 

" Accept, gentlemen, for yourselves, and present 
to the Democracy for whom you speak, my grateful 
acknowledgments. "With the highest respect, 
"Your fellow-citizen, 

"FRANK. PIERCE. 
"Committee — Andrew Hague, W. F. Small, 

Jacob Lewis, O. F. Fogtjeray, W. English, 

J. O. Tobias." 



RECEPTION OF THE NOMINATION. 263 



CHAPTER XII. 

Reception of the News of the Nomination of General Pierce in New- 
Hampshire — Meeting of the State Legislature — Mr. Sargent's 
Speech — Mr. Wells' Speech — Mass Meeting of the People at 
Concord — Meeting at Boston, at Washington, at New-York, 
Hartford, etc. etc. — Letters of Mr. Buchanan, Ex-President Van 
Buren, Messrs. Cass, Houston, Douglass, etc. etc. — Concluding 
Remarks. 

The nomination of General Pierce, as we have al- 
ready remarked in a previous chapter, has been 
ratified by the people in all parts of the Union with 
great enthusiasm. Old feuds have been healed by 
it, old differences adjusted, and a larger vote will, 
in JSTovember, be polled for Franklin Pierce, than 
could have been polled for any other man whose 
name was before the Convention. This is not merely 
our individual opinion, but that of some of the 
ablest men in the nation. 

We have not room for a detailed account of the 
many great ratification meetings which have been 
held over the country, but will give a few extracts 
from some of the best speeches made at such as- 
semblages. 

As soon as the news of General Pierce's nomina- 
tion reached Xew-Hampshire, the whole State was 
alive with excitement. Bells were rung ; cannons 



264: LIFE OF FRANKLIN PIERCE. 

were fired, and joy was pictured upon almost every 
face. The State Legislature was in session at Con- 
cord, and a meeting of the Democratic members 
composing it was soon gathered, in response to the 
nomination. Governor Martin took the chair, sup- 
ported by a large number of vice-presidents. Among 
the many excellent speeches made on the occasion, 
we quote those of Mr. Sargent, of Wentworth, and 
Mr. Wells, the President of the Senate : 

Mr. Sargent spoke as follows : 

"Jfr. President and Gentlemen : I do not rise 
to make a speech. I am no speech maker, and if I 
were, am in no state of preparation at the present 
time to make one. But there is no Democrat who 
cannot say something, if need be, on an occasion 
like this. And if he is not called upon to Speak, 
every true man must feel an interest in the subject 
which calls us together at the present time. 
(Cheers.) "W" e meet as members of the Legislature 
of New-Hampshire, as Democrats of the Granite 
State, to respond to the nomination of General Frank- 
lin Pierce, of our State, as a candidate for the Pres- 
idency of the United States. (Cheers.) 

" I had the honor, Mr. President, at the Demo- 
cratic State Convention, held in this Hall, on the 
8th day of January last, to introduce the resolution 
recommending General Pierce to the Baltimore 
Convention, as a candidate for the Presidency, which 
resolution was then unanimously adopted. In intro- 



RESPONSES TO THE NOMINATION. 265 

ducing that resolution, I only obeyed the impulse, 
and embodied the deep and all-pervading sentiment 
of the people of Grafton county, and of the State. 
There is but one feeling on the part of the Demo- 
crats of New-Hampshire in relation to General 
Pierce, and that is a strong and abiding affection, 
and an unbounded desire to honor him who is so 
universally known to be the friend of the people, 
the advocate of popular rights, the known supporter 
of the Union, and of our glorious Constitution. 
(Loud cheers.) 

" The Baltimore Convention have seen lit to honor 
the Democracy of New-Hampshire by nominating 
her favorite as a candidate for the Presidency of 
the nation — a station higher, more responsible, more 
honorable, and more important than any other place 
or office in the world. This nomination will be re- 
sponded to by the Democracy of this State, and of 
the nation, with a unanimity and an enthusiasm 
which will secure his triumphant election by an 
overwhelming majority. (Applause.) I set the 
State of New-Hampshire down as good for 20,000 
majority for General Pierce. (Some one here sug- 
gested 10,000.) c No,' said Mr. S., ' I will not take 
off a single vote from the number I have stated. 
(Immense applause.) 

"Allusion has been made to thQ other candidates 
who were before the Baltimore Convention. TLe 
Democracy of New-Hampshire have been through 



%66 LIFE OF FRANKLIN PIERCE. 

one contest under Hon. Lewis Cass, as their leader 
and standard-bearer, and nobly did they then con- 
duct themselves, and honorably and triumphantly 
did they come out of the contest, the banner State 
of the Union. (Cheers.) There is perhaps no man, 
next to General Pierce, under whom our Democracy 
would sooner and more cheerfully rally, in another 
contest, than General Cass. No man stands higher 
in the estimation of the nation than he. (Applanse.) 
The Democracy of our State would be equally ready 
to rally under the standard of Buchanan, Douglass, 
Marcy, or either of the other distinguished states- 
men who were before the Convention as candidates 
for this high office. (Cheers were here given for 
these eminent men.) But when it was found that 
neither of these could get the nomination, it was 
asked, c Where is the man whose talents, courage, 
experience, patriotism and attachment to the Union 
and the Constitution, will make him the man of the 
nation, and raise him above all sectional preferen- 
ces and local jn'ejudices V In looking over the men 
of the nation, General Pierce w r as at once seen by 
all to be the man who possessed all the qualities 
necessary for the station, together with the elements 
of an unbounded popularity that would insure his 
triumphant election. 

" Mr. S. then spoke of the compliment that had 
been paid to the New-Hampshire Democracy by the 
nomination. They had always proved true to the 



RESPONSES TO THE NOMINATION. 267 

Union, and their course lias insured for them and 
for their State the respect and confidence of the 
whole Union. (Loud plaudits.) 

" Mr. S. then alluded to the fact that we had 
heretofore had several candidates for the Presidency 
presented by different parties, who were sons of 
New-Hampshire, but who had emigrated from the 
State, (alluding to Cass and Webster,) none of whom 
had been elected. c But now,' said he, ' we have a 
candidate who is not only a son of New-Hamp- 
shire, but still a resident in New-Hampshire — a 
man of the people, a man who will only leave the 
soil of his native State to take a short trip to the 
White House, which General Pierce is sure to do 
on the fourth of March next. 5 (A perfect storm of 
cheers greeted this statement.) 

" Mr. S. assured the other States of the fidelity, 
the purity and the reliability of the New-Hamp- 
shire Democracy. He briefly reviewed General 
Pierce's course in his own State, in the House and 
Senate of the United States, and his brave conduct 
and high standing as a General in the Mexican war. 
He further alluded to his high qualifications as a 
jurist and a statesman, and closed by expressing his 
entire confidence that these qualifications were such 
as would dignify the exalted position to which Gen- 
eral Pierce had now been called — such as would se- 
cure his triumphant election by the people, and 
secure to the country peace, prosperity, honor and 



268 LIFE OF FRANKLIN PIERCE. 

union. (Loncl applause followed the conclusion of 
Mr. Sargent's address.) 

The following is Mr. Well's speech : 

" Mr. President : We have assembled here this 
evening to make a declaration of our feelings and 
opinions responsive to the nomination of General 
Franklin Pierce, as a candidate for the President of 
the United States. 

" Had the ^National Convention presented to the 
Democracy of the country, the name of either of 
the distinguished gentlemen proposed to the Con- 
vention for that exalted station, I am fully confident 
that a warm and generous response would have been 
made by the Democratic members of this Legisla- 
ture, and by the sterling Democracy of the old Gran- 
ite State. But when, unexpectedly to the most of 
us, one of our citizens is selected for that distin- 
guished and honorable position, I know we shall be 
excused by our brethren in other States, for manifes- 
ting more than the ordinary interest on occasions 
of this character, when they learn the deep, intense, 
and affectionate regard, which the people of New- 
Hampshire entertain for him who has been so high- 
ly honored. (Loud cheers.) To the generous and 
judicious delegation of the old Dominion, we will 
first tender our warmest and kindest thanks forpre- 
senting to the Convention the name of General 
Pierce : (Cheers.) and we will long cherish in our 



RESPONSES TO THE NOMINATION. 269 

hearts the sentiments of gratitude due to the State of 
Tennessee, (cheers) for the warm approval by her del- 
egation of Virginia's noble stand. (Renewed cheers.) 
Long and faithfully have New-Hampshire and Vir- 
ginia been linked together to maintain the faith of 
our political fathers, and rejoiced are we still — to 
know, that her faith and confidence in us is still 
firm and enduring. (Applause.) The Democracy 
of Tennessee have the right to claim paramount love 
and affection for the life and memory of Andrew 
Jackson, for he was of them, and among them, and 
his ashes consecrate their soil ; (applause,) but de- 
voted as were his kindest friends, and warm as may 
be the affectionate remembrance of his virtues, no 
section can in truth exceed the State of New-Hamp- 
shire in reverence for his memory ; nor did men of 
truer hearts or stronger hands stand by him, in his 
fearful conflicts with federalism and mammon, than 
stood for him and around him in the State of New- 
Hampshire. (Loud cheers.) 

" New-Hampshire also brought forward in the 
convention of 18±1 the name of the pure hearted 
and patriotic James K. Polk ; and when at his elec- 
tion, the Democracy of New-England in all save 
two of the States, was prostrated and paralyzed, the 
flag of Polk and Dallas floated in triumph on the 
rugged hills of New-Hampshire. (Cheers.) 

" I allude to these States because of our pecu- 
liar connexion with them in times which have 
passed ; but I believe I utter the sentiments of this 



270 LIFE OF FRANKLIN PIERCE. 

assembly, and of the entire Democracy of this 
State, when I say, that New-Hampshire is profound- 
ly grateful to the members of the National Democrat- 
ic Convention, for the distinguished consideration 
shown her in selecting as the nominee for the Pres- 
idency, her noble and patriotic son ; (loud and re- 
iterated cheers,) and that we assure them, and their 
constituents, that in making this nomination, they 
have secured in our belief the triumph of the Dem- 
ocratic party, in the next Presidetial election. (Ap- 
plause.) For if a candidate of exalted moral worth ; 
of high literary and legal attainments ; of endear- 
ing social qualities ; of vigorous, comprehensive in- 
tellect ; one thoroughly schooled in the theory and 
practical operation of Government ; a son of the 
[Revolutionary stock, and who cherishes the princi- 
ples established by the Revolution, a statesman of 
enlarged views, rooted in the Constitution, and the 
theory of a republican Government ; one in whom 
the love of country is a religious sentiment ; one 
who in his administration will make the Constitu- 
tion his polar star, and who regards the preservation 
of the American Union as the sheet anchor of ra- 
tional liberty here, and throughout the world ; one 
who will follow no path but that which the lamp of 
truth illumines, and who will mete out to each 
and all, their legal constitutional rights — if, I repeat, 
a candidate possessing such qualities and qualifica- 
tions, can unite the Democratic party of this nation, 
all honor is due to the sagacious men of the Balti- 



RESPONSES TO THE NOMINATION. 271 

more Convention, for presenting to the country the 
name of General Franklin Pierce of New-Hamp- 
shire. (The climax was greeted with three heart- 
felt cheers.) They will unite ; relying confidence in 
the nominee will, I verily believe, bring into one 
fraternal circle, the great family of American De- 
mocracy. They will go into the contest shoulder to 
shoulder, hand in hand, and heart in heart, and pro- 
duce by a united effort that glorious sentiment of 
Democratic Union, which pervaded the whole party, 
when it was guided by the spirit of him who sleeps his 
last sleep in the shades of the Hermitage. (Sensation.) 
" The action of the Baltimore Convention fur- 
nishes lit themes for deep and candid New-England 
consideration. Though once the ill-starred district, 
which Hartford Convention federalism sought to 
seperate from the American Union, and annex to 
the; British Provinces ; though at times it seemed 
that all its political power and influence would be 
merged in the caldron of federalism ; though big- 
otry and fanaticism have run loose and wild through- 
out its whole extent, yet the untiring efforts of 
Democratic freemen, have so preserved its charac- 
ter and political integrity, that our confiding breth- 
ren of other States have rewarded their exertions by 
this distinguished act of faith and confidence ; so 
that now for the first time in our country's history, 
we are rejoicing at the certain prospect of a Dem- 
ocratic New-England President. (The applause at 
this point was liberal and earnest.) 



272 LIFE OF FKANKLIN PIEECE. 

" Well may the booming cannon echo from hill 
to hill. (Cheering.) Well may the loud huzza ring 
out from Madawaska to those verdant hills where 
rest the ashes of Ethan Allen. (Cheering renewed.) 
Well may the storm of joy roll on from the rugged 
mountains of New-Hampshire, to the land of the 
Charter Oak. (Loud cheers.) Well may the rejoic- 
ing voices of thousands go up from the base of 
Bunker Hill, to float away and mingle with the 
hoarse roar of the surf on Plymouth Rock. (Ap- 
plause.) 

" Well may the true-hearted Domocracy of New- 
England congratulate themselves uj:>on the assurance 
of uniting with their political brethren from all sec- 
tions of this great Republic, around a New-England 
Democratic President, and reneweclly pledge them- 
selves to the faithful support of our commom Con- 
stitution, and the preservation of the American 
Union. (Rapturous applause.) 

" How often has it been asserted by our oppo- 
nents that the South would never consent to vest 
political power in the hands of northern men. But 
now examine the record and judge as to the truth 
of the allegation ! With 112 votes in the Conven- 
tion from slave States, only six were cast for a can- 
didate in that section of the country ; but, on the 
contrary, all the candidates were from the northern 
States, and were mainly of New-England birth, and 
New-England sentiments. (Cheering.) Does this 
show that exclusive selfishness which has been so 



RESPONSES TO THE NOMESATION. 273 

often asserted ? By no means. It shows, rather, 
what we all know to be true, that the love of coun- 
try is the paramount sentiment with the true repub- 
licans of the South. (Immense cheering.) That 
they, like us, are willing to deposit political power 
wherever it is deserved, and that all they require is 
the reasonable assurance of an honest and efficient 
administration of the Government, the compelling 
all to perform their legal obligations, and securing 
to all their Constitutional rights. (Loud applause.) 

"The history of the country is full of evidence 
that the Democracy of the South have ever been 
ready to sustain the w r hole country in all its domes- 
tic and foreign difficulties. . (Cheers.) Point me to 
a national controversy when the Democracy of the 
South did not unite, heart and hand, with the De- 
mocracy of the North, to sustain our national rights 
and our national honor. (Renewed cheers.) Tell 
me of a battle scene on the mountain wave, where 
southern blood was not freely shed in defence of the 
stars and stripes — the common flag of our common 
land. (Applause.) Designate, if you can, the bat- 
tle field, from Chippewa to Monterey, from Brook- 
lyn Heights to the city of Mexico, where the bones 
of the brave men of the South are not crumbling 
into dust with those of the patriotic sons of the Nor- 
thern States. (Rapturous applause.) 

"Away, then, with such false and groundless ac- 
cusations ! (Liberal applause.) The good and true 
men of the South, like the good and true men of the 



274: LIFE OF FRANKLIN PIERCE. 

North, fully realize the necessity and propriety of 
confidence and union in our party ; (Cheers.) and 
this nomination, in my belief, will produce that re- 
sult so perfect and complete, that the political power 
in this country will be so permanently established 
in Democratic hands, that federalism and fanati- 
cism will be forced into the dark valley of despond- 
ency, where they will hang their harps upon the 
willows, and mourn the blighted prospects of longer 
disturbing or distracting the Democratic party." 

A mass meeting of the people of Concord was 
held, at which Mr. Peabocly, of the native town of 
General Pierce, said : 

" He had but the moment before arrived in town 
from Hillsborough. It was not two hours since, 
when the joyous news of General Pierce's nomina- 
tion to the Chief Magistracy of the United States, 
first greeted the ears of his delighted fellow-towns- 
men, the yeomanry of old Hillsborough. The an- 
nouncement thrilled like an electric touch through, 
the hearts of the sterling Democracy of that fine 
old town, the birth-place of Franklin Pierce. The 
school-mates of his boyhood, the companions of his 
youth, and the friends of his matnrer years, grasped 
each others' hands in an ecstacy of delight, and call- 
ed down blessings upon the head of him in whose 
honors they shared as in the honors of a brother. 
They had watched his growing fame with unmeas- 
ured delight. They had seen wave after wave of 



RESPONSES TO THE NOMINATION. 275 

popular applause bear him onward towards the 
proud position which he now occupied in the face of 
the whole world. As a statesman and a soldier, his 
praises had been recorded on every heart in the 
land. And at every step of his course, his towns- 
men had exclaimed : ' His wisdom and his virtues 
have merited it all. His blushing honors rest upon 
a noble and deserving brow, and in his triumphs we 
rejoice 1' 

" Not only his native town, but the whole State 
rejoiced in his nomination. The warm heart and 
splendid talents of General Pierce had long been 
recognized and admired throughout our whole bor- 
ders ; and every son of the old Granite State was 
ready to shout with joy that the mantle of so many 
illustrious Presidents was now to rest upon the 
shoulders of a worthy son of New-Hampshire. New- 
Hampshire, the home of the Starks, the Cilleys and 
the Pierces — New-Hampshire, the patriotic de- 
fender of our nation's liberties, the foremost in her 
love of our glorious Union — had at last received 
the reward that was her due. Let us be thankful 
that the wisdom of our national Convention had se- 
lected General Pierce for our standard-bearer in the 
campaign which had this day commenced. 

"That he will be triumphantly elected to the 
Presidential chair, no one could doubt. But let it 
be the aim of every true man among us to work 
with unflagging energy until the desire of our hearts 
should be accomplished. Let us proclaim to the 



276 LITE OF FRANKLIN PIERCE. 

whole world the wisdom, the virtues and the gene- 
2'osity of the man, until every heart should be fired 
with the truth, and the voices of the whole people 
should come up in one prolonged shout, declaring 
Franklin Pierce, of New-Hampshire, to be the next 
President of the United States." (Loud cheers.) 

At an immense ratification meeting held in Fa- 
neuil Hall, Boston, the Hon. S. II. Ayer, of Man- 
chester, N. H., made the following speech : 

Hon. S. H. Ayer, of Manchester, 1ST. H., was 
introduced to the meeting, and replied to the great 
cheering with which he was received, that he was 
sure the response was in favor of the State in which 
he lived. 

"Mr. Ayer said, a newspaper in Boston — 'the 
Atlas — 'had spoken of New-Hampshire as a plague 
spot in the Union. He did not doubt that New- 
Ilampshire would prove to be a plague spot to 
Massachusetts. He had recently seen an article in 
a Virginia paper in the same strain, with the sneer- 
ing remark in reply to the question of who is Gen. 
Pierce, that he is a native of a State away up among 
the rocks, where the sun does not shine more than 
three hours out of the twenty-four. He would tell 
the editors of such papers, that the sun which beams 
over New-Hampshire, was destined to shine in such 
a manner as that there will be no more Galphinism 
and no more Gardnerism, and that the men of this 
country will not be shot down like dogs in other 



RESPONSES TO THE NOMINATION. 277 

countries, as they have been during the present 
national administration. (Great cheers.) 

" Mr. Aver said he would answer the question 
how it was that the nomination of Gen. Pierce had 
been effected. It was true that Gen. Pierce had 
been nominated by a State Convention in New- 
Hampshire, yet he went to the Convention at Balti- 
more, with one purpose, that of being true to the 
man who should ajypear to be the choice of the Con- 
vention. Mr. Pierce in reply to the nomination of 
the State Convention, positively declined being a 
candidate, and the delegates of New-Hampshire 
cast their votes for Cass. (Cheers.) New-Hamp- 
shire had known Gen. Cass, and had watched his 
progress as he left his home for a residence beyond 
the mountains, and through the various official po- 
sitions with which he had been entrusted, and her 
delegates never deserted him until his vote fell 
below fifty, and even then they did not give him up 
until they consulted with the delegates of Michigan, 
whether they should go for any other candidate. 
Then it was that the idol of New-Hampshire was 
brought forward by the delegation of glorious old 
Yirginia. (Cheers.) There was no need that it 
should be asked why he did not answer the Scott 
letter; no one mentioned it as an objection, for 
every one said we know just where Pierce is. 
(Cheers.) 

" Mr. Ayer said his personal knowledge of Gen- 
eral Pierce, extended from his own boyhood, was 
13 



278 LIFE OF FRANKLIN PIERCE. 

continued while a student in his office, and in ta- 
king his practice in Hillsborough, his native town. 
He knew him for as pure a man as lived in Hew- 
Hampshire, or in the country. After he had served 
nine years in Congress, four in the House and five 
in the Senate, he resigned his seat, saying at the 
time, he had endeavored to serve his country with 
fidelity, but he must in future endeavor to do 
something for his own family. He was nominated 
for Governor of New-Hampshire, but declined the 
nomination. He was with him when he received 
the letter from President Polk, tendering him the 
office of attorney-general of the United States. He 
said to him, c of course you will accept of it.' His 
reply was, 'that he should not accept of it, nor of 
any other office under the Government, except in 
the defence of his country in war.' (Applause.) 
This he wrote in reply to President Polk. A gen- 
tleman at the Baltimore Convention, related a con- 
versation with President Polk, at the time he 
nominated Mr. Pierce as colonel, and subsequently 
as brigadier-general, in which President Polk gave 
his opinion that General Pierce would yet be Pres- 
ident of the United States. 

" The federal joapers, said Mr. Ayer, had endeav- 
ored to ridicule the pretensions of General Pierce as 
a soldier. It was only necessary, in reply, to quote 
what General Scott at Puebla said, on receiving a 
letter from General Pierce, that he was coming to 
his aid with a reinforcement of 2,500 men. General 



BE3P0NSES TO THE NOMINATION. 279 

Scott said of him that he was an old soldier, that 
his appearance was that of a man who had served 
at least fifteen years in the army. General Scott 
had also said in relation to the calumnies sought to 
be cast upon General Pierce, that there was no 
braver man in Mexico than he was. And General 
Pierce would be supported b y multitudes of old sol- 
diers in the Mexican war. 

"He had seen letters from all the prominent can- 
didates before the Baltimore convention, and they 
all cheerfully supported the nomination, and prom- 
ised their hearty support. (Applause.) The Boston 
papers say either Mr. "Webster or General Pierce 
must be President. (Cheers.) Mr. "Webster him- 
self has said, ' General Pierce is an honorable man, 
and will make a good President.' Mr. Clay has 
said, 'I regret that the nomination has not fallen on 
General Cass ; but Pierce is a very good man.' Mr. 
Ayer closed by quoting from a letter of Governor 
Seymour, of Connecticut, in congratulating General 
Pierce, assuring him that when the order is given, 
6 forward, the ninth,' the old ninth regiment and the 
whole line of Democracy will move forward in un- 
broken strength, and secure him the victory. Mr. 
Ayer sat down amid great applause. 

At Washington a mighty gathering of the people 
took place, to ratify the doings of the National Con- 
vention. We quote the concluding portions of Gen- 
eral Cass' speech : 



280 LIFE OF FR ANKLE* FEERGE. 

" I trust I know myself well enough to know that 
my time for public office is fast passing away, and 
that no possible event can ever place my name 
again before the American people for the Presiden- 
cy; and if I did not know this you do, and so does 
the whole country. My ambition is to serve the 
people of Michigan, to whom I owe a debt of grati- 
tude I can never repay, yet a little longer in the 
station I fill by their confidence and kindness. One 
word more, my fellow-citizens ; let us enter into this 
contest with a determination to conduct it upon 
principles — upon those great issues which constitute 
the difference between the Whig and Democratic 
parties. That will be a noble strife, in which we 
may all engage with honor. But let us reject and 
denounce, as unworthy of our cause, that low abuse 
which unfortunately is too prevalent upon such oc- 
casions. We seek higher objects, and should em- 
ploy higher means. Let us indignantly frown upon 
every man who so far forgets himself and the cause 
he professes to support, as to quit the contest of 
principle to descend to that of scurrility. We are 
better without such a man than with him. There 
are honorable points of difference enough between 
us and the Whigs to engage all our attention, and 
to call forth all our energy, without entering into 
such a field of warfare. Recollect that we are breth- 
ren of the same mighty family, equally interested 
in its honor and prosperity ; and though we differ 
upon many important principles of government and 



RESPONSES TO THE NOMINATION. 281 

administration, yet we all seek the same common 
object — the preservation and perpetuation of our 
glorious institutions, the world's best hopes and our 
own. Let the rivalry between us be hereafter which 
shall best strive for this great end ; it will be a 
rivalry of the understanding and of the heart, not of 
the tongue : of patriotism, and not of abuse." 

The Hon. Henry Dodge wrote to the meeting the 
following letter : 

" 'Washington, June 10, 1852. 

" Dear Sir : I regret that circumstances prevent- 
ed my attendance at the ratification meeting held 
last night. No individual, present or absent, more 
heartily approves the nomination of Franklin Pierce 
and William E. King, for President and Vice-Presi- 
dent, than I do. I know both of our nominees well, 
and regard them as eminently qualified and worthy 
of the stations for which they have been named, and 
shall most cordially support them. 

" Most respectfully, your obedient servant, 

"HEISTEY DODGE. 

" J. D. Hoover, Esq., President Jackson Demo- 
cratic Association." 

In [New-York, a grand ratification meeting was 
held. At one time twenty thousand of people were 
present. Stanton, O'Connor, Yan Buren and others 
made enthusiastic speeches. We quote a paragraph 
from Mr. Yan Buren's speech. He said : 

" I am anxious only that two great men, nom- 



282 LIFE OF FRANKLIN PIEECE. 

inated for the highest honors which the coun- 
try can bestow, shall be successful. I have known 
Pierce from boyhood. I have known him to be a 
true unflinching radical Democrat — as a faithful, 
honest, disinterested public officer, in civil, as well 
as in military life. I have known him to be a 
modest unassuming man, and above all, an honest 
man; abundantly capable of discharging with 
honor the high duties which will be imposed upon 
him. I shall support him honestly and cheerfully. 
(Cheers.) I may say the same about the distin- 
guished gentleman whose name is on the ticket, 
besides that of Mr. Pierce ; I mean Mr. King from 
Alabama. I know him too, from childhood, and a 
more upright, capable man, as a statesman, citizen, 
or foreign ambassador, never lived. He is the soul 
of chivalry and honor; he is of true courage — a 
uniform unflinching Democrat. Such a ticket I 
cheerfully support. I can stand — I will stand 
upon the platform laid down at Baltimore. (Pro- 
longed cheers.) I will not stop to cavil by what 
vote that platform has been adopted, what' circum- 
stances fostered it, or how it was made public. I 
say, I approve of that platform, and cheerfully 
support it. 

In Hartford there was also an immense gather- 
ing of the people to ratify the doings of the Con- 
vention. We give Gov. Seymour's letter to the 
meeting : 



LETTER OF GOT. SEYMOUR. 283 

"Hartford, June 12th, 1852. 
"Gentlemen: Feeling obliged to decline the 
honor of presiding at the ratification meeting for 
this evening, I cannot permit the opportunity to 
pass, without some proof of my warm satisfaction 
with the nominations of the late Democratic Na- 
tional Convention. 

" The name of General Pierce is associated in the 
minds of all those who have the pleasure of ac- 
quaintance, with the noblest qualities of the intel- 
lect and heart. As a civilian, his life presents a 
record of tried devotion to the cardinal principles 
of the Democratic party, those principles which 
have given a true construction to the Constitution, 
the bond of our Union, and which in times of dan- 
ger to the Union, have been brought to bear in its 
defence. His military services originated in a pa- 
triotic zeal to serve his country, when there was a 
call for volunteer strength to maintain the honor of 
our flag, and nobly did he perform his duty to that 
country against the common enemy. 

" I rejoice to see that the nomination is received 
with great applause throughout New-England, from 
a State which has furnished us with a candidate, to 
Connecticut which will stand by New-Hampshire 
and her gallant son— and with corresponding en- 
thusiasm at the West and South, thus vindicating 
the nationality of the party which has placed his 
name in nomination for the Presidency, and gave 
him for an associate, W. K. King of Alabama. 



284: LIFE OF FRANKLIN PIEECE. 

"I need hardly remind yon, that in the coming 
contest, no brighter augury of success can be named 
than that which is to be found in the perfect union 
of the Democratic party at the present time. In 
that union is strength, and the hopes of certain vic- 
tory. I remain very truly, 

"Your friend and fellow citizen, 

"THOS. H. SEYMOUR" 

But it is in vain that we attempt to even mention 
all the enthusiastic ratification meetings which have 
been held over the country. North and south, east 
and west, in Boston and ISTew-York, in Philadelphia 
and Washington, in JSTew-Orleans and St. Louis, and 
in all the smaller cities of the land, great meetings 
have been held by the people, to express their satis- 
faction at the nomination of General Pierce to the 
Presidency. 

The following letter of Mr. Buchanan is of great 
importance, and for that reason we preserve it here. 

LETTER FROM HON. JAMES BUCHANAN. 

" Wheatland, {near Lancaster^) \ 
June \Uh, 1852. j 

The Washinton Union publishes the following 
letter from Mr. Buchanan, in reply to a letter from 
a large number of Democrats in Bradford county, 
expressing wishes for his election, and inviting him 
to pay them a visit in the course of the canvass. 



LETTER OF MR. BTJCTIANA^. 285 

He deferred answering it until after the action of 
the Convention: 

" Gentlemen : I have delayed on purpose to an- 
swer your kind communication of the 20th ultimo 
until the result of the Baltimore Convention should 
be known. With every feeling of a grateful heart, 
I thank the intelligent and faithful Democracy of 
Springfield township for their favorable opinion, and 
for the earnest and friendly hope expressed by them 
4 that the Democracy of the Union would respond to 
the wishes of Pennsylvania in the National Conven- 
tion.' In this hope they have been disappointed ; 
but yet all of us have much reason to be satisfied 
with the nomination of Franklin Pierce and "Wil- 
liam P. King. 

"They are sound, radical, state-rights democrats, 
who will employ their best efforts to expel from the 
halls of Congress and the purlieus of the treasury, 
the hosts of stock-jobbers, contractors, and specula- 
tors by which they are now infested, and to restore 
the purity, simplicity and economy of former 
times in the administration of Government. I 
know them well, having served in the Senate with 
both for several years, at a most critical and impor- 
tant period of our political history ; and I speak 
with knowledge when I say they are the very men 
for the times. Public economy, reform, and a strict 
construction of the Constitution, according to the 
Virginia and Kentucky resolutions of 1798 and 
1799, ought to be watchwords of the Democratic 
13* 



286 LITE OF FEANKLIN PIEECE. 

party throughout the pending contest ; and Pierce 
and King will prove to be the able and faithful rep- 
resentatives of these great principles. 

f ' General Pierce first entered the Senate of the 
United States on the 4th of March, 1837, and contin- 
ued to be a member, nntil the 28th day of Februa- 
ry, 1842, when he resigned. This period embaces 
the whole of Mr. Van Buren's administration and 
the first year of that of Gen. Harrison and Mr. Ty- 
ler. He had previously served as a member of the 
House of Representatives from December, 1833, 
until the 4th of March, 1837, throughout General 
Jackson's second term of office. 

" When General Pierce first made his appearance 
in the Senate, he was one of the youngest, if not the 
very youngest, of its members. Modest and unas- 
suming in his deportment, but firm and determ- 
ined in his principles and purposes, it was not long 
before he acquired the respect and esteem of his 
brother Senators. 

"From deep conviction he was a state-rights 
Democrat — sound, unwavering and inflexible ; and 
I venture to predict that when his votes shall be 
scrutinized and tested by the touchstone of Demo- 
cratic principles, they will present as fair a record 
as those even of the lamented Wright himself. His 
innate modesty and comparative youth prevented 
him from addressing the Senate very frequently ; 
and yet I well recollect some of his efforts, which 
would have done no discredit to the oldest and 



LETTER OF MR. BUCHANAN. 287 

ablest members of the body, then in its most palmy 
days. When he spoke lie was always prepared ; his 
voice was excellent, his language well chosen and 
felicitous ; and he had an earnestness of manner 
proceeding evidently from deep conviction, which 
always commanded the attention of his audience. 
" JSTo candid and honorable man, of any party, 
well acquainted with General Pierce, will, I am 
convinced, deny to him the intellectual qualifica- 
tions necessary to render his administration of the 
government wise, able, and successful. Besides, 
unless I am greatly mistaken, he possesses determi- 
nation of character and energy of will, without which 
no individual is fitted to perform high and responsible 
executive and administrative duties, such as per- 
tain to the office of President of the United States. 
My own observation, as well as the history of the 
world, have taught me that these are qualities 
which do not always belong to great senators and 
distinguished orators. 

cc The Democracy will not ask that their candidate 
shall be elected because of his great military ex- 
ploits ; and yet his military services constitute a 
beautiful episode in the history of his life. It is no 
small distinction for General Pierce to have merit- 
ed the official and emphatic endorsement of the 
commander-in-chief of our army in Mexico— an ar- 
my composed of heroes— for gallantry and good 
conduct on the field of battle. 

" Of Colonel King, our candidate for Yice Pres- 



288 LIFE OF FEANKLIN PIEECE. 

ident, I can say emphatically that lie is one of the 
purest, the best, and the most sound-judging states- 
men I have ever known. 

" He is a firm, enlightened, and unwavering Dem- 
ocrat, and an amiable, honorable, and benevolent 
gentleman. From the day when, yet a youth in 
1812, as a member of the House of Representatives, 
he voted for the declaration of war against Great 
Britain, until the present hour, his life presents one 
consistent and beautiful portrait. As President of 
the Senate he is without a superior ; and should it 
ever be his fate, in any contingency, to discharge 
the duties of President of the United States, he will 
conduct the Government with wisdom, sound dis- 
cretion, and enlightened patriotism. 

" But why should I insist upon tha merits and 
qualifications of our candidates? Their nomina- 
tion by the highest tribunal of the Democratic par- 
ty is the strongest presumptive evidence of their 
worth, and ought to be sufficient of itself to rally to 
their support every true-hearted and faithful Demo- 
crat. 

" As Democrats we should always yield our per- 
sonal preferences for men when great principles re- 
quire the sacrifice. Man is but the creature of a 
day, whilst principles are eternal. The generations 
of men in succession rise and fluctuate, and sink, 
and are forgotten ; but the principles of democracy, 
of progressive democracy, which we have inherited 
from our Revolutionary fathers, will endure to bless 



LETTER OF MR. BUCHANAN. 289 

mankind throughout all generations. As Democrats 
we believe that not only the prosperity and glory 
of the coutry, but even the preservation of our bles- 
sed Union, depend upon a faithful observance of 
these principles in the administration of the Federal 
Government. And I ask, in what manner can that 
ascendency be secured but by a sacred adherence 
to regular nominations ? This is the only bond 
which can unite, consolidate, and render invincible, 
the great party of which we are all proud to be 
members. 

" If, as soldiers in the ranks of the Democratic ar- 
my, we should desert the good old cause of democ- 
racy merely because we might prefer a different 
leader, we shall then soon become broken and dis- 
oi'ganized, and an ignominious defeat must be the 
inevitable consequence. In union, and in union 
alone, there is strength. Good and great old demo- 
cratic Pennsylvania will never forsake her principles 
merely because she might possibly have pre- 
ferred other agents than Franklin Pierce and Wil- 
liam E. King, to carry her will into effect. She 
will never thus prove recreant to her own true glo- 
ry and to her highest interest. 

"In what light would we regard a professing 
Christian who should desert his holy religion and 
his church merely because he preferred a different 
bishop or pastor to preside over it from fche individ- 
ual the majority had selected ? No, no, my Demo- 
cratic fellow-citizens, we must neither be for Paul 



290 LIFE OF FRANKLIN PIERCE. 

nor Appollos, except but as the mere but worthy 
agents to carry out the great and fundamental 
doctrines of the democratic faith on which we are all 
united. Principles rather than men ought ever to 
be our motto. 

" It has been our glory and our strength, in the 
past time, that we have never concealed our princi- 
ples from the public eye, but have always proclaimed 
them before the world. The late Baltimore Conven- 
tion, in obedience to our will, has erected a platform 
of principles in the midst of the nation, on which 
every true Democrat can proudly stand. Does the 
man live, be he Democrat or WhTg, who, knowing 
Franklin Pierce and "William E. King, believes 
they will prove faithless to any one of these princi- 
ples % The great Democratic party of the Union 
have delivered to these, their chosen candidates, a 
chart by which they stand pledged, in the most sol- 
emn manner, to guide the ship of state ; and my 
life upon the issue, they will never deviate from the 
prescribed course. In voting for these candidates, 
then, every Democrat will be voting for his own 
cherished principles, and sustaining the platform of 
his party. 

" I fear I shall not be able to accept your kind 
invitation to pay you a visit during the Presidential 
canvass. With the strongest disposition to culti- 
vate the personal acquaintance and friendship of my 
brother Democrats of Bradford county, I must yet 
leave the public discussion of the principles involv- 



LETTER OP MR. VAN BPREN. 291 

ed in the present contest to younger and abler Dem- 
ocrats,. I have, during so long a period, served in 
the character of a speaker before the people, that I 
trust my Democratic fellow-citizens throughout the 
State, considering that I am now more than sixty 
vears of age, will give me an honorable discharge 
from the active duties of the campaign. 

" With sentiments of the highest respect, I re- 
main your friend and fellow-citizen, 

"JAMES BUCHANAN." 
" Theodore Leonard, Isaac Cooley, Elam Bennett, 
John Salisbury, Frederick Leonard, Charles Sal- 
isbury, J. L. Philips, Esqs., and many others." 

The annual celebration of the Tammany Society 
took place in New- York on the 5th of July, and the 
enthusiasm of all present in reference to the coming 
election, was most cheering. Several important let- 
ters, addressed to the committee, from distinguished 
Democrats, were read on that occasion, a few of 
which follow : 

FROM EX-PRESIDENT MARTEN VAN BTJREN. 

Lindenwald, July 1, 1852. 
" Gentlemen : I beg you to accept my thanks for 
the invitation to meet the Tammany Society on the 
5th inst., with which you have honored me. It re- 
vives recollections reaching to a far distant day, oi 
similar meetings, at which I had the pleasure of 
acting in the promotion of our cause, with a long 
array of disinterested and patriotic men, many of 



292 LIFE OF FRANKLIN PIERCE. 

whom liave been forever removed from such scenes, 
whilst some are yet amongst yon, honored members 
of your society, lingering, like myself, on the verge 
of life. A summons from the snrvivors of such a 
band and their younger associates together, for the 
support of principles which we imbibed in boy- 
hood, and to which we have since devotedly adher- 
ed, I cannot regard with other feelings than those of 
deep interest, mingled with regret, that the gratifi- 
cation of thus meeting them is denied to me. 

" In a public letter, some years since, addressed 
by me to the Democracy of the city of New- York 
— of which your society constitutes a highly re- 
spectable and influential part — I stated that I had, 
since the expiration of the Presidential term, deem- 
ed it due to that high office, and to those whose 
friendship and confidence raised me to it, to abstain 
as far as possible from an active participation in 
party politics. The opinion as to the proprieties of 
my position, coinciding with my preferences and 
views in other respects, has remained unchanged, 
and nothing can be further from my wishes or in- 
tentions, than to pursue a different course at this 
advanced period of my life. I am, therefore, con- 
strained to throw myself upon the indulgence of 
your society, in declining their invitation. 

" But I cannot, gentlemen, alow the opportunity 
you have presented, to pass without renewing the 
assurances which were given in the letter referred 
to, of my deep sense of the vigorous and effective 



LETTEE OF ME. VAN BUEEN. 293 

support that for so long a period, and through so 
many and such trying vicissitudes in my public ca- 
reer, I received from the Democracy of your great 
city. Differences of opinion have, it is true, since 
arisen between large and respectable portions of 
your associates and myself, upon points which your 
invitation well describes as ' foreign to the objects 
and political relations of your society.' In regard 
to these, we have each pursued the course that we 
deemed right, and that our judgments approved ; 
and I am, I hope, too just to extend grudgingly to 
others, as well entitled, the exercise of a right I 
claim for myself, or to allow the personal asperities 
which unhappily seem to be inseparable from col- 
lisions of opinion upon most public questions, and 
against an indulgence in which men best disposed 
cannot always guard themselves, to weigh against, 
much less to cancel claims upon my gratitude and 
esteem that I can never either forget or disown. I 
can, therefore, with truth, say that the sentiments 
towards your society, and their political brethren of 
the city, long and cordially entertained by me whilst 
the relation of constituent and representative exist- 
ed between us, are not less Mud or less sincere now 
when that has ceased, and can never be restored. 

" There is every probability, gentlemen, that what 
is so earnestly desired by all sincere Democrats — a 
fair field for the discussion before the people, of the 
conflicting principles of the respective parties, of the 
administration of the federal government— will be 



294 LIFE OF FRANKLIN" PIERCE. 

once more afforded. At too many of onr Presiden- 
tial elections, circumstances in the actual condition 
of the country, or considerations personal to one or 
the other of the candidates, have, by the address of 
politicians, been used to prevent a proper attention 
to that great issue by the people. In the coming 
contest, there is, I think, great reason to expect that 
no such obstacles can, to any serious extent, be 
brought into successful operation. The disturbing 
subject of slavery has, by the action of the two 
great parties of the country, been withdrawn from 
the canvass between them, and the no less exciting 
questions in regard to a National Bank, and the 
uses and deposit of the moneys of the people, which 
so convulsed the whole country by appeals to indi- 
vidual interest and cupidity, have been finally set- 
tled by the adoption of the Democratic policy. 

" In regard to the personal characters of the re- 
spective candidates, the prospects are not less pro- 
pitious. The Whig nominee, in that chivalrous 
spirit which belongs to his character, has commen- 
ced his first jDolitical campaign with a frank admis- 
sion of the private worth and claims to public con- 
fidence of his opponent — a concession which I am 
very sure General Pierce will be, at all times, ready 
to reciprocate. 

"A Presidential election, held under the circum- 
stances to which I have adverted, must, in seems to 
me, result in the success of the Democratic candi- 
date. No w T ell informed and candid mind can doubt 



LETTER FROM MR. CASS. 295 

that a large majority of the people of the United 
States prefer the political principles for the admin- 
istration of the federal government, of which Mr. 
Jefferson was the first and greatest advocate, and 
which have, in the main, guided the counsels of the 
Democratic party. The "Whig nominee is the open 
and bold opponent of the most important of those 
principles, and the decided advocate of political 
doctrines, which are, in the estimation of every 
sound Democrat, in deadly hostility to the spirit of 
our free institutions. 

" On the other hand, Gen. Pierce and Mr. King 
have both been brought up in the true Democratic 
faith, and spent their lives among the straightest of 
their sect. They are honest men, long tried in pub- 
lic life, possessing talents abundantly adequate to 
the successful discharge of every duty, and private 
characters above all cavil or reproach. They have 
been fairly nominated, and ought to receive, and I 
am confident will receive, the vote of every single- 
minded Democrat in the country. If my life is 
spared, they shall have mine. 

" I am, gentlemen, very respectfully, your friend 
and servant, M. YAN BUEEX." 

FROM HON. LEWIS CASS. 

" Washington, July 5, IS 52. 
" Gentlemen : I have but this moment received 
your invitation to attend the celebration on this day, 
of the anniversary of National Independence, by 



296 LIFE OF FRANKLIN PIERCE. 

the Tammany Society, and must answer } r ou hastily. 
By some accident, I know not what, the preceding 
invitation to which you refer did not reach me. 

" It would afford me great pleasure to meet the 
Society upon this interesting occasion, were cir- 
cumstances such as to permit it. But they are not, 
and it only remains for me to thank you for your 
kind recollection and to express my cordial concur- 
rence in your sentiments, which should find a re- 
sponse in the heart of every Democrat. Let the 
contest among us be, not who has done best in the 
time that is passed, but who will do best in the time 
that is coming, that has come, indeed, and that de- 
mands our united, vigorous, centering action. With 
that we" shall succeed, and that we shall have. 
Everywhere in the ranks of our party, the cry is 
heard — the good of all demands the exertion of 
all — and well may old Tammany — patriotic, dem- 
ocratic old Tammany — set us the example of a 
sacrifice of individual preferences upon the altar of 
our party, and urge us all to come to the good work, 
determined to accomplish it ; your society has al- 
ways adhered to the cause of the country, in peace 
and war, with as true, patriotic ardor, as ever the 
love of country called forth, and well may we say, 
that we can never be defeated when united, for vic- 
tory is sure, so long as we follow your example. 
Our principles are founded in free institutions, arid 
are hallowed by time, and by the blessings they 
since brought with them, and our nominees are 



LETTERS OP MESSES. DOUGLAS AND HOUSTON. 297 

worthy of the party ; and thus we have motives for 
exertion as powerful and encouraging, as ever called 
the Democracy of the county to the support of their 
principles and of men, by whose judicious selection 
alone can principles be practically maintained. 
" I am, gentlemen, with great regard, truly yours, 

"LEWIS CASS." 

FROM HON. STEPHEN A. DOUGLAS. 

" Washington, June 26, 1852. 
" Gentlemen : You will accept my thanks for 
your invitation to attend and participate in the fes- 
tival of the Tammany Society, on the 5th of July. 
I am truly rejoiced at the cordial reunion of the 
great republican party of JSTew-York, and of the na- 
tion, with the ticket and platform presented by the 
Baltimore Convention. A complete and glorious 
triumph surely awaits us. I take great pleasure in 
accepting your invitation, and will be with you on 
the occasion referred to. I have the honor to be 

verv truly yours, 

J « S. A. DOUGLAS." 

FROM HON. SAM HOUSTON. 

" Washington, June 25, 1852. 
" My Dear Sir : As it would not be in my power 
to attend the celebration of the birth day of our 
. National Independence by the ' Tammany Society or 
Columbian Order,' and my temporary absence, 
when the invitation arrived, I did not reply imme- 
diately. 



298 LIFE OF FRANKLIN PIERCE. 

" Some days previous to the receipt of your re- 
quest, I had consented to unite with the citizens of 
New-Hope, Pennsylvania, and Lamberts ville, New- 
Jersey, in celebrating our anniversary. 

" It would afford me much pleasure to be present 
at " old Tammany," and unite in all the feelings of 
the order. I do sincerely hope that such an im- 
pulse will be given there as will secure the support 
of the whole Democracy of the Empire State to 
Pierce and King. 

" The Democracy united will secure to us victory. 
A triumph we can and must have. Truly thine, 

"SAM HOUSTON." 

Extract of a letter from Hon. J. Letcher, of 

Virginia : 

" "Washington, June 16, 1852. 

" The approaching Presidential election is one of 
the utmost importance and interest, and it behooves 
every Democrat to exert himself in behalf of the 
distinguished nominees of the Baltimore Conven- 
tion. They are gentlemen of high character, dis- 
tinguished talent, enlarged experience in public 
affairs, unquestioned patriotism and the soundest 
republican principles. They have been long tried, 
and in prosperity and adversity have proved true 
to the faith and interests of the Democratic party. 
They are men of national views, and feelings, and 
principles, and will so administer the government 
as to put an end to the sectional strife that has so 



LETTER FROM MR. LETCHER. 209 

long existed, and effect a restoration of peace and 
tranquillity, by a full recognition of the constitu- 
tional rights of all sections of the country — north, 
south, east and west." 

Extract of a letter from Hon. R. Strange, of iSTort h 
Carolina : 

" Fayetteville, JS T . C, Jane 30, 1852. 

" . . . I am greatly rejoiced to hear of the 
renewed union of the great republican party of 
■!N~ew-York, whose divisions have so seriously threat- 
ened with ruin the whole republican party of the 
United States. Believing, as I do, that the des- 
tinies of this great nation depend on the mainte- 
nance or downfall of republican principles, the first 
wish of my heart has ever been for their preserva- 
tion, and all that I own would be cheerfully divided 

to their security It is cheering, then, 

on the eve of one of the most important Presiden- 
tial elections that our country has ever witnessed, 
to behold the dense columns of New-York Democ- 
racy gathering to their standard, and with the 
principles of 1798 in their hearts, sending forth the 
general shout of Pierce and King." 



And now our work is done. "We have given the 
reader a faithful portrait of General Pierce as a pri- 
vate citizen, as a lawyer, as a law-maker, as a sol- 
dier and a statesman. In whatever position it has 



300 LIFE OF FEA^KXrN- PIERCE. 

been his fortune to be placed heretofore, he has 
been equal to all the demands of the occasion. As 
a private citizen, the reader has found him to be 
noble and generous, more than fulfilling his duties 
to society ; as a lawyer he is most eloquent, and as 
a soldier fearless in time of battle ; and as a states- 
man he ranks with such men as as Jackson and 
Van Buren and Polk. That he will preside over 
this nation with ability, dignity and impartiality, no 
candid man can doubt. That he will more than jus- 
tify the most sanguine expectations of his friends, 
we are confident. There are few men in the country 
who have the administrative ability of General 
Pierce ; there are few men who have his firmness of 
purpose ; and in short there are few men who would 
fill the Presidential Chair with so much grace, 
dignity and ability. That the American people will 
in November elect him to that position, we cannot 
entertain a doubt, for throughout the Union, North 
and South, East and West, the Democracy are uni- 
ted, and therefore invincible. 






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